Gallows Humor
by XenaLives
Summary: We're bringing it home to the 21st century for a little Paily AU near future romance fic set against the backdrop of a slightly outrageous medical mystery (minor character death). If you're hoping for relationship angst this is not the fic you're looking for. Straight up flirty, steamy goodness. Something to pass the time and spark those Paily feels until the next episode.
1. Chapter 1

**Sending this one out into the world. I wanted to get it posted before the Christmas episode. I may need to double up on some updates. I don't like overlapping with the show. It's distracting. Speaking of distracting...couldn't manage to work on two stories at the same time. Going to take a couple of days now and switch gears, maybe reread Sirens again so I can get back to it. **

**In the meantime, this is something a little different but in my usual style. I was really just experimenting with something modern. See how you like it.**

* * *

><p>"Wha-?" Paige rolled over and slapped at her alarm clock. The beeping continued and pierced her skull. "Off!" She pushed the clock around on her nightstand, her fingers grappling uselessly at it. "Fuck!" She groaned into her pillow.<p>

The beeping stopped. She sighed, settling back down before it began again. It mocked her, sounding like it was louder this time. Paige sat up, her hair sticking out at odd angles and looked around, blearily, for the source. She reached to the end of her bed and groped the pockets of her jeans, feeling for the offending rectangle of torture.

She wiggled the Motorola pager out of the pocket and eyed the screen. Completely unnecessarily as she was only on call to one person, one department. She groaned again and reached for the phone.

"McCullers." She mumbled when the voice picked up at the other end.

"_Sorry, to bother you on a Sunday, Paige._" Lucas Gottesman said cheerily from the other end.

"Please, tell me you're calling to tell me-"

"_Yup! How'd you guess?_" Lucas cut her off. "_You have a case and Dr. Wilden wants it done today_."

Paige dropped her head into her hands with a sigh. "What?"

There was a shuffling of pages on the other end of the line. "_MVA. 23 year old male. DOA in the ED. He was leaving a bar and hit by a…_" There was a low whistle. "..._wait for it...an ambulance. Lights and sirens and everything"_

"Jesus Christ. How'd he miss that?" Paige crawled out of bed and began searching the floor for the least offensive smelling t-shirt she could find. She pulled it on over her head and phone. She wasn't wearing a bra and looked down at herself trying to decide if she cared. She shrugged and went after the jeans next. "Is Wilden coming in?" She asked, referring to the attending pathologist.

"_What do you think?_" Lucas was chewing something now.

"I think that fucker has a 9:00 tee time." Paige snarked.

Lucas gasped. "_How dare you? It's at 10:00._" He chewed and swallowed. "_Wilden said to tell you it's a textbook case, his words not mine, but if you have any problems to call him_. _Hold the body until Monday and he'll review your report then and sign off."_

Paige was quiet for a long time as she sat on the edge of her bed. "But it's my-"

"_Hey, don't shoot the messenger_!" Lucas interjected.

Paige wished she could be mad at Lucas but he was just that, the messenger. An entry level clerk in medical records who had the misfortune of working weekends and her pager number on speed dial. A chart for autopsy crossed his desk and she got the call.

She had worked as a pathologist's assistant at Rosewood Memorial for two years now. Ever since she finished her Master

s of Science. She had worked as a lab assistant all through college and, finally, convinced them to aid her tuition for grad school if she came back to work for them for a reduced salary. She had three years left on her agreement and she couldn't wait to get out of Rosewood. People died all the time everywhere. She could go where she pleased.

"Well, it's not like I had any plans. Thanks, Lucas." She sighed, slipping her cell into her pocket. She ran her hands through her hair to get the worst of the tangles out before throwing it into a messy ponytail.

She padded to the bathroom to brush her teeth and eyed herself in the mirror. She turned her head first one way and then the other. Clear skin, tight with no wrinkles, only laugh lines, long eyelashes and clear eyes. She rolled her eyes up to examine the hair she could see. Nope. No gray.

Stepping back from the mirror she hiked up her t-shirt and eyed her abdomen. Tight and fit, she patted her flat stomach a couple of times thankful she kept her gym membership current and made herself go. She looked back in the mirror again as she squeezed a dab of toothpaste onto her brush before jamming it into her mouth. She gave a sharp nod of her head, toothpaste foam splattering on the sink. "Happy fucking birthday, Paige." She slurred to her reflection and spat in the sink.

The coffee maker beeped its completion and Paige filled her Wonder Woman travel mug. She grabbed keys, wallet and sunglasses and was halfway out the door when her phone rang. With any luck it was Lucas calling back to say never mind the man isn't dead after all.

She pried it out of her back pocket as she unlocked the door to her pride and joy, a 2012 black Dodge Charger. A graduation gift to herself. She never tired of the way the engine rumbled when she started her. "Hello?" She said without looking at the number, her hand poised on the key before starting the car.

"_Oh, Hi, Sweetie!"_ Her mother's voice sounded far away. "_Happy quarter century Birthday! Wish your only child happy birthday, Nick._"

She heard an unintelligible rumble in the background.

"_Your father says happy birthday and could you, please remember to water our plants?_"

Paige put the speakerphone on and set it down in the console so she could drive. "Sure, Mom."

"_I'm sorry we couldn't be there with you to celebrate but you know we've had this trip planned for-_"

"It's fine, Mom, really." Paige pulled out of her apartment space and headed to the hospital.

"_Are you in the car? Are you doing something fun with Shana today?_"

Paige winced and rolled her eyes. "Shana and I broke up 3 months ago, Mom. You know that."

"_Oh, right, sorry_." There was pause. "_Your friends then?_"

"Shana got the friends in the divorce." Paige snarked.

Her mother sighed. "_Paige, honey-_"

"I'm sorry, Mom, I have to go." She turned into the morgue entrance to the hospital. "I have a case today."

"_Today, really?_" Her mother gasped. "_Don't they know it's your birthday?_"

"Pretty sure the guy who'll never see 25 doesn't care."

"_No need to be vulgar, Paige_."

She sighed. "Sorry. I gotta run. Enjoy your trip." She snatched up the phone and disconnected before hearing her mother's reply.

Paige parked crosswise in front of the loading dock. It was a little personal victory for her as if, somehow, by blocking the doors they wouldn't bring anymore cases in. All it really meant was she had to drop everything, degown and move her car. It also pissed off the coroner's van driver's and funeral homes. She did it anyway.

She badged herself into the side door adjacent to the roll up garage. The morgue was dark as there were no windows. Didn't want anyone peeping on the dead. Or getting out. She flicked the row of switches and the fluorescent lights buzzed and flickered, coming to life overhead. She blinked a few times. The lighting was so bright she often left at the end of the day with a headache from squinting.

The room was wall to wall stainless steel. Counters, cabinets and two autopsy tables in the center of the room. The floor was white tile which gently sloped to a center drain for easier cleaning.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the instrument tray set up next to the far table. The stainless steel instruments gleamed monochromatically in stark contrast to the white, rectangular box with a bright red bow on it. Paige smiled to herself as she moved and picked it up. It was heavy and there was a card.

_Happy Birthday, Paige!_

_I really hope you're not reading this until Monday. If this is Sunday I'm sorry I can't be there to help and get you out sooner so we can go get our drink on._

_Please, accept this small token. I know how much you hate it when the blade flies off the old piece of shit we have to use so I had dear old Dad pull a string or two. See you Monday._

_Love, Han_

Paige's eyes lit up and she ripped the box open. A new Stryker saw. Excellent! Maybe she would get out of here today. Somehow, through some miracle of budgeting Paige actually rated her own assistant and she and Hanna Marin shared many laughs over what you called the assistants assistant. It didn't hurt that Hanna's father was on the Board of Directors and Hanna was in grad school studying forensics and criminal justice. This was work experience for her and Paige was grateful.

At the far side of the room, nearest the short hallway that led to the entry to the basement and elevators up was a locker room. She worked her way over to it and pushed through the swinging door. She kicked out of untied hiking boots and stripped out of her clothes, not bothering to hang them up but instead jamming them into the foot of her locker. She stepped into a set of scrubs and her rubber clogs, also for easier cleaning.

She moved to the "clean" counter where the phone and computer lived. Where she completed her reports. Lucas, God bless him, had dropped off the chart and she didn't have to go hunting it down. He probably just saved her a half hour. She flipped through the paperwork. The death certificate, accident report, authorization for autopsy. Everything was in order.

She jumped, startled when the phone rang. "Autopsy." She announced and tucked the receiver between her shoulder and ear.

"_Paige, It's Dr. Wilden._" He said shortly, obviously annoyed he even had to be calling the hospital on a day off.

"Good morning, Sir." She said brightly. "Beautiful day isn't it? Hope you're out enjoying the weather."

There was a long pause and Paige guessed he was trying to decide if she was being _flip_ with him. He loved that expression. _Being flip_. She most certainly was being flip. She smiled into the phone at his delay. "What can I help you with?" She offered.

He cleared his throat. "_I just wanted to make sure everything is in order_."

"The paperwork is in order but I haven't pulled the body out yet." She snapped the chart closed.

"_Well, fine_." He spoke to someone, his hand muffling the phone. "_Let me know if there are any problems. I'll sign off on the case tomorrow_."

"You bet." She dropped the phone back in the cradle before he could say anything else.

The phone rang again and she glared at it. "Whaaaat?" She yelled at it before snatching it up again. "Autopsy, Paige McCullers speaking. How may I be of service?" She said sweetly.

"_It's Alison DiLaurentis in the ED_." Came the clipped reply.

Paige rolled her eyes and pretended to strangle the phone. "Hi, Alison! How lovely to hear from you."

Again another pause and Paige ticked off another point for herself in the air. "What do you need Alison?" She said done with playing games and wanting to get on with this so she could leave.

Alison sighed. "I thought for a second you had had a personality transplant over the weekend." She snapped at her. "The next of kin for your case today. His sister, I think, has asked for his leather jacket. So, could you please remove it undamaged, clean it up and bring it upstairs some time today." She didn't put a question mark at the end because as far as Alison DiLaurentis, head nurse of the Rosewood Memorial Emergency Department was concerned she didn't have to ask anyone anything. They lived to serve.

"Sure Ali, whatever you say." Paige knew Alison hated being called that. Said it made her sound too schoolgirl so Paige took every opportunity. The phone went dead in her ear. "Ha!" Paige barked and slammed the phone down. She stared at it for a moment, daring it to ring.

When it remained silent she pulled her phone from her pocket and thumbed through her music. It was an 80's kind of morning and she stopped at Pat Benatar's greatest hits, dropping it into the docking station and turning the volume up as All Fired Up blared into the room.

"Poor bastard." Paige mumbled as she walked around the body on her table. Though only a couple years younger than she he looked like a teenager, barely even shaving yet. She grabbed a clipboard and snapped on fresh pages for her external and internal exam.

She pulled a fresh gown and slipped her arms through, tying it in the back. Next, she pulled a disposable cap over her head, covering most of her hair and tied a mask over her face, pinching it over the bridge of her nose so it rested more comfortably, safety glasses completed the look. Lastly, thick nitrile gloves stretched up over the sleeves of her gown to prevent anything from leaking in.

Paige slid a fresh memory card into the camera and walked around the body again documenting everything he was wearing and snapping a few photos. She measured him for height and made an educated guess for weight. She dropped the clipboard and camera on the counter and stood, hands on her hips. She had to get his jacket off in one piece.

She experimented by tugging at one sleeve without much result. "Hell with this." She muttered and jumped up on the table, straddling the body. She jerked and pulled him to sitting by his collar, balancing his head against her legs. She could feel sweat trickling down the back of her neck and between her breasts from the effort.

"Hello?" A woman's voice called from the entryway.

Paige made an unpleasant sound beneath her mask. She had neglected to turn on the Autopsy in Progress light because who else would even be here. She looked down at the body. She didn't want to let him go or she'd have to start all over again. "Autopsy going on." She yelled back. "Can you come back later?"

Paige reached down and jerked the jacket from the bottom up over his head. The arms flopped out to she sides as she tugged, mightily on the stiff leather. She heard the woman walk into the room but couldn't spare her a glance. Paige hoped was she wasn't squeamish. Or, better yet, she was and maybe she'd take off.

"Um…" The woman said uncertainly. "Should you be doing that?"

Paige grunted with effort and twisted back and forth to shake the arms loose. "Definitely not." She barked. "My chiropractor will not be pleased." She gave a tremendous jerk and straightened, the jacket came free and Paige lunged for the body, gripping his shirt front before he slammed back down onto the table. She lowered him gently and jumped back down to the floor.

The woman eyed her, speculatively. "Are you a doctor?" She asked with an edge to her voice.

Paige laughed. "If I were a doctor I'd be driving off the 6th tee by now."

"Are you even suppose to be here?" She woman looked agitated now, like she had just walked in on some sort of crime being committed.

Paige pulled her mask down now and really looked at the woman. She was tall, her height and looked to be about the same age. Where Paige was slim and boyish this woman was all healthy curves. Her skin was light brown, her hair dark and hanging loosely around her shoulders in soft waves. She was stunning. A miracle of womanhood and Paige wished she was meeting her under any other circumstances.

"I'm a PA." Paige blurted.

"A physicians assistant?"

"No." Paige smiled. "A dead PA." The woman frowned at that. "Pathologist's assistant." Paige explained. "Physicians assistants are live PAs we're dead PA's."

She nodded as if that explained everything.

Paige moved to the counter and set the jacket down. "I'm sorry if that looked a little off." She said and turned back to her, leaning against the counter and turning the music down. _We belong_ had just begun playing. "The next of kin requested the jacket be returned and there's really no graceful way to undress a dead body."

The woman forced a smile. "I understand." He eyes flicked to the body and she swallowed.

"Is there something I can help you with?

"I love this song." The woman said distractedly then blushed. "Um...I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm Emily Fields a new second year ED resident and I just…" She trailed off uncertainly.

"Oh." Paige's eyes widened. She worked here. Perhaps their paths would cross again under more appropriate circumstances. Perhaps Paige may run into her in the cafeteria over coffee. "Dr. Fields." She tried out the name. "Was he a patient of yours? Did you see him when he came in?"

The woman blinked at the use of her title, still getting use to it herself and smiled shyly. "Emily is fine, please. No, he wasn't a patient. I was just...I was thinking of…" She looked nervous.

Paige tried to save her. "Did you want to observe?" She asked, hopefully. It wasn't uncommon to get curious residents and med students down here. Her stomach gave a little lurch at the idea of spending more time with her. These circumstances would be just fine.

Emily's eyes widened. "I would, yes, if it's not too much trouble?"

Paige reached under the counter to hide her smile. "Nope." She pulled a gown and handed it to her. "No trouble at all." She watched as the woman slipped the gown on and snapped on a pair of gloves, expertly. Paige handed her the clipboard and pen. "I hope you don't mind if I put you to work?"


	2. Chapter 2

Emily watched as the woman, Paige, the dead PA as she titled herself moved around the table. She worked to keep up with her, scribbling notes as Paige shouted off eye color, hair color and condition of eyes and teeth. She waited, patiently as Paige cut the man's clothes off and worked around him again eyeing all the external injuries old and new. Abrasions on his face and arms, glass in his skin, an old scar from a possible appendectomy. She measured each one carefully.

Paige moved to his legs and clucked her tongue beneath her mask. "Ouch." She said absently. The fractured tibia and fibula of both legs tore ragged holes through his skin. She measured the distance from his heel to the fracture site on both legs, frowned then measure again. They were the same. She shrugged and moved on.

Emily wrote notes carefully. She needn't have tried so hard as her penmanship was excellent even when writing fast. People couldn't help but comment when they found out she was a doctor. She even did a fair sketch on the little body graphics provided to document injuries.

Paige finished her external exam and peered over Emily's shoulder. "Very nice." She said. "But, you know, you're not getting graded for this." She laughed and reached for the camera. "Do you mind taking photos? It saves me from having to take gloves on and off."

Emily looked down at her neat, overly precise work and flushed with embarrassment. "I like to be thorough." She said in her defense. She took the camera and followed Paige around the body, snapping photos of his injuries, especially his legs.

Paige peered at them as Emily scrolled through the ones she had taken. "Good." She said. "Let's open him up." She had already turned away and missed Emily's wince and shudder at her comment.

Paige was humming quietly to herself _Love is Battlefield, _and snapped a blade onto the scalpel handle. She made a swift Y incision from each shoulder to sternum then down, around his navel to the pubic bone. She worked the skin back from the ribcage, cutting away the soft tissue without cutting through the skin until she had exposed the ribcage.

Plugging in the Stryker, she marvelled at her new toy for a moment before flicking it on and running it from each clavicle down the anterior ribs. She lifted the chest plate off, cutting through soft tissue and muscle.

Blood poured out of the chest cavity down around the body and splattered onto the floor at Paige's feet. "Shit!" She said and jumped back trying to avoid getting soaked. She slid her hands into the open chest and felt around. "Left lateral rib fractures on four through seven."

She plugged in the suction unit attached to the table and turned it on sticking the hose into the body. Blood slurped up the line and was collected in a large vacutainer below the table. She eyed the container. "2 and half liters of blood in the chest."

She peered into the body and let out a low whistle as she grabbed up her ruler. "3 cm full thickness linear tear of the aortic arch." She stood back. "That'd do it, for sure." She held the ruler to the tear. "Can you get some photos of this? There's a stool under the table." She nodded her head in the direction.

Emily kicked it out and stood over the body. Looking only at the image display she was able to detach herself somewhat and take the photos.

"Great, thanks." Paige said and moved on.

Emily wrote on as Paige removed each organ and called out the weights and any other significant findings, ruptured spleen, lacerated liver, more blood in the abdominal cavity. She took a few sections for later microscopic analysis and drew blood, urine and vitreous fluid to be sent for toxicology. Aside from being dead the man was remarkably healthy.

Paige snapped off her gloves and wiped sweat from her forehead with a clean spot on her gowned arm. With help these went much faster and she was grateful for the woman's presence but they had still been at it over two hours.

"Are we through?" Emily asked tiredly.

"Um, no." Paige grimaced. "I still need to do the head but I think the aorta tear is going to be my cause. There doesn't appear to be any major head trauma. You never know though. He could have an internal decapitation for all I know."

Emily's face fell. "Of course." She turned to the next page.

Paige eyed her. "You don't have to stay. I'm sure you've seen enough." She reached and took the clipboard from her. "I'm going to be another hour at least and then I need to sew up and type up my report."

Emily smiled genuinely. "Thanks." She stripped off her gloves and gown and dropped them in the trash. "I hope I wasn't intruding."

"No." Paige answered quickly. "Not at all. You were a big help." She checked the clock. "I might actually get out of here in time to enjoy some of my birthday." She said absent mindedly.

Emily's eyes widened. "It's your birthday?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Paige covered her embarrassment by taking a sip of very cold coffee.

"Happy Birthday, Paige." Emily said with a crooked smile.

Paige's heart leapt into her throat. "Thanks." She said on a strangled breath. "Um, maybe I'll see you around?"

Emily nodded slowly, fighting a smile. "Maybe." Her eyes flicked to the counter. "I can take that for you if you like? Save you a trip upstairs."

Paige looked to the jacket and shrugged. "Sure. If you don't mind."

Emily scooped it up and eyed Paige again from under her lashes. "Bye." She said quickly and headed out the door.

Paige watched her leave. "Bye." She said softly.

Emily leaned up against he wall as she waited for the elevator. "Jesus Christ, Fields, pull yourself together." She muttered to herself. "You're absolutely not going to tell your mother you met someone in the morgue." She laughed to herself but couldn't ignore the fluttery heartbeats that started the moment she met Paige McCullers. The elevator dinged it's arrival and she clutched the jacket in her hand. Her smile faltered as she remembered why she was there in the first place. It had not been a social call.

* * *

><p>Paige made a final sweep of the room, checking everything was clean and put away, before she hit the lights and stepped out into the afternoon sunshine. She checked her watch. Just after 2:00. Now she had the day to spend.<p>

She drove to the bookstore, the one with the Starbucks, and snacked on a very large Mocha and even larger chocolate chip muffin. It was her birthday after all. She wandered through the aisles pretending not to look at the lesbian erotica section along with another woman. She eyed her. The woman eyed her back then walked away. Paige sighed and sniffed casually down her shirt. She had showered after the case.

She left with a copy of _Pillars of the Earth. _Shana took that, too, when she left and though Paige would probably never read it again she loved that book and missed seeing it on her shelf.

After a drive out of town on some roads she could really take the car out on she made a few more stops and headed home. She shouldered open the door to her apartment, a pizza, six pack of Stella and a DVD balanced in one hand, keys in the other.

She fumbled the stack and almost lost it all when a hand shot out to help.

"Let me get that." A smooth voice said.

Paige jerked her head up to see Shana on her doorstep, reaching to take the beer and movie from her.

Paige moved inside to the kitchen and set the pizza on the counter. Partly to stall and collect herself and partly because she did not want to have a confrontation with a large double cheese, double pepperoni in her hand. It was her birthday after all.

Shana moved in behind her and set the beer on the counter, removing one and popping off the top with a slam of her hand against the wood edge of her table. Paige glared at her and the length of the ragged chipped table. She hated that Shana did that and Shana knew it.

Paige took a beer from herself and made a dramatic show of pulling out the bottle opener and using it. She took a long pull, eyeing Shana over the bottle as she leaned back against the counter. "What are you doing here?" She wiped a dribble of beer from her chin.

Shana sipped her own beer. "It's your birthday and I wanted to see you." She looked at Paige under hooded lashes.

Paige gritted her teeth. It was not the first time Shana had shown up unannounced and uninvited recently. "Where's Sydney?"

Shana shrugged. "I don't know."

Paige laughed bitterly. "Over so soon?"

Shana shrugged again. "She was irritating me."

"What?" Paige sipped her beer to hide a triumphant smirk. "Asking you to buy beer for her and her little friends?" Paige watched as Shana's nose wrinkled in distaste and mentally awarded herself a point. Shana had unceremoniously left Paige for a younger woman and, while Paige was not at all interested in rekindling their relationship, she was still smarting from the break up and the blow to her ego.

Shana moved toward her, setting her beer down. Before Paige could move Shana pressed up against her, her arms on either side of the counter, hemming her in. "Shana, don't." Paige turned her head as Shana moved in toward her, lips slightly parted.

"I've missed you." She whispered against Paige's neck.

Paige swallowed against the sensation of warm breath tickling against the sensitive skin, her belly tightening. Paige's jaw clenched in anger, her body betraying her as Shana brushed her lips across her ear. "Can we talk?" She breathed.

"Shana, stop." Paige tried to back away without touching her but had nowhere to go.

"You don't really want me to, do you?" Shana's asked throatily and slipped a hand beneath Paige's t-shirt, raking her skin with her nails.

Paige sucked in a sharp breath. "Don't!" She snapped and shouldered past her to move out of reach. "Fucking don't!" She yelled, her breathing quick and uneven.

Shana jumped back. "What's wrong?" She had the nerve to look hurt. "I thought you liked that."

Paige just gaped at her, breathing hard. "I'm sorry." She shook her head as if to clear it. "Has one of us had a stroke? You left me, Shana. You dumped me for someone else. Who, might I remind you because I certainly haven't forgotten, you had already been screwing for a month. I don't know about you but where I come from that's called cheating. You don't just get to stroll back into my life and pretend that didn't happen." She blinked and gave a small laugh at the absurdity of what just happened.

"Paige, I want to try again." Shana made toward her again.

It was not lost on Paige that there was no _I'm sorry_ no _I made a mistake. _"You're out of your goddamn mind if you imagine I think so little of myself to ever let that happen, Shana." Paige's voice was ice cold.

Shana's eyes narrowed in anger. "Fuck you, Paige!"

"Never again, Shana." Paige shot back before Shana stalked out, bumping hard into her shoulder on the way by and slamming the front door so hard, a picture rattled on the wall.

Paige blew out a long, slow breath and retrieved her beer downing it in several long swallows. Shana's beer she poured down the sink. She leaned her hands against the counter over the sink and took a few long breaths to calm her racing heart. "Happy fucking birthday, Paige." She muttered to herself.

She collected another beer, opened properly, a plate of pizza and her movie and settled in the living room.

* * *

><p>Paige reviewed her report one more time before sending it to Dr. Wilden. She didn't hear Hanna come up behind her.<p>

"So, what did you do last night?" Hanna blurted.

"Shit!" Paige jumped, hand going to her chest as he whirled around. "Christ, you scared the shit out of me!" She glared at Hanna all blond, bright eyed and bubbly. She was a crime against Mondays. Paige killed that six pack and was feeling it today. It had been her birthday after all.

"So." Hanna raised her eyebrows. "Last night?"

Paige turned back to the computer. "Pizza, movie and beer." She said as she attached the file to her email.

"Oh, really?" Hanna eyed the back of her head. "Because I got back early and came by to see if I could take you out for a drink and Shana's car was there."

Paige turned back around. "Jesus, Hanna." She sighed. "Of all the times you picked that one to not interfere?"

Hanna shrugged. "I'm not walking in on your booty call."

Paige snorted. "That's so not what that was."

"You know what they say…" Hanna waggled her eyebrows. "...the best way to get over someone…"

"Yeah." Paige stared at her. "Is to get under someone else." She finished. "As in someone else different. Not the same person who gutted you over for a teenager."

"I thought she was 20?"

"Not when they met." Paige said bitterly.

"Whatever." Hanna inspected her nails. "There's nothing wrong with a good hate-fuck."

Paige gaped at her. "There's so much wrong with that sentence I don't even know where to start." She turned back again and hit send.

"Well, I'm not opposed." Hanna pressed the point.

"I, on the other hand, prefer to, at the very least, like the person I'm having sex with with." Paige retorted.

"Fine." Hanna conceded. "Someone else, then."

An image of that potential someone else flashed in Paige's mind. All shy, crooked smile and large brown eyes. She couldn't help her goofy grin.

Hanna's eyes narrowed. "What is that face?"

Paige straightened her expression. "What face?" She asked innocently. "My haven't had enough coffee face?"

Hanna was not to be deterred. "Have you met someone?" She studied Paige and circled her like a bird of prey. "You have haven't you? I can't believe it! I'm gone for two days and you meet someone."

Paige shook her head, her goofy grin returning. "It was nothing, Han."

"That face is not nothing." Hanna insisted. "Tell."

Paige sighed, resigned. "She's a resident in-"

"Oh, no no no." Hanna interrupted. "No bueno, Paige."

"What?" Paige asked, confused.

"No swimming in the company pool." Hanna waggled a finger at her.

Paige sighed. "It's fine, Hanna. It was nothing anyway."

"I'll be the judge of that." Hanna crossed her arms. "What's her name? Where'd you meet her?"

"Emily Fields. I had a case yesterday and she came down from the ED. She wanted to stay so she took notes for me." Paige replied with a sigh.

Hanna's eyes narrowed. "You met her here?"

"That's what I just said."

"What was she doing here?" Hanna demanded.

Paige shrugged. "I don't know. She never really said."

Hanna looked suspicious. "An ED resident came down to the morgue to assist you with a case on Sunday morning and you don't think that's weird?"

Paige considered it for a moment. It was strange. "I guess. I didn't think too much about it at the time."

Hanna nodded sharply. "Come on." She headed for the door.

Paige jumped up to follow her. "Where?"

"I'm having an emergency." Hanna said by way of explanation.

Paige grabbed her hand. "No, Hanna. Don't you fucking dare."

Hanna's eyes flashed. "You can either come with me or I'll just go start asking around for her." She resumed her pace to the elevators.

Paige gritted her teeth and blew out a frustrated breath though she couldn't deny the idea of seeing the woman again excited her. She heard the elevator ding and raced to catch up with Hanna.


	3. Chapter 3

"How are you settling in, Emily?"

Emily turned from the chart she was working on at the central desk at the sound of Alison's voice. "Oh, um, everyone has been really great. Really welcoming. It's sometimes hard, I hear, to switch specialities but things have been going really smoothly, I think." She smiled.

Alison returned her smile and perched on the desk, her leg wrinkling the pages of the chart she had been working on. "Are you making some friends?" She asked, curiously.

Emily eyed her. "Yes, I've been out with the residents a few times and I actually have a friend here in town from school."

Alison nodded, lowering her eyes. "That's nice." She placed a hand on Emily's arm lightly. "If you'd like I would love to take you out and introduce you around sometime."

Emily squirmed under the woman's obvious interest. She didn't like but she absolutely did not want to offend the head nurse. That would not go well for her. "Sure, that would be nice. Let me just check my schedule and I'll let you know." She stood and gathered her chart, unseating Alison in the process.

Emily looked up when the elevator dinged in time to see Paige McCullers step off, a smaller blond woman in her wake. Emily stared. She had never seen anyone look good in scrubs but her eyes couldn't help noticing how the pants rode low on her hips and the top, casually tucked, hugged her broad shoulders. Her ID badge hung from a lanyard around her neck and a pager sat clipped at her hip. She looked fit and moved with athletic grace as she walked a slow circle around the hall, obviously looking for someone she didn't yet see.

Alison followed Emily's gaze and her eyes narrowed. "Well, if it isn't the Queen of the Damned." She muttered.

Emily frowned at her briefly before turning back to watch Paige.

Paige turned, her eyes meeting Emily's and quickly flicking to Alison next to her, standing close. "Fucking great." She muttered

Hanna saw where she was looking. "Is that her?" She whispered. "Holy shit!" She breathed. "I think I'm in love."

"You're not gay." Paige hissed.

"So?" Hanna shot back. "Is she?"

"One can only hope." Paige said under her breath and wondered if she should turn around and go back to the basement or go and say hi. Emily smiled and gave her a wave and Paige's feet lurched forward like the woman had just jerked her leash.

"What brings you to the land of living, Evie?" Alison snarked. "You lost?"

Paige beamed at her. "Actually, Ali, word is you killed someone so I thought I'd save you a trip down and do a pick up."

Alison stiffened visibly at the nickname and insult to her skills. "Bitch." She muttered.

Emily watched the exchange with wide eyes before stepping in. "Paige, hi." She interjected. "I was going to look for you today."

Alison's mouth gaped. "You two know each other?"

Paige smiled, triumphantly. "Emily and I go way back."

Emily frowned but didn't say anything. "Hi." She extended her hand to Hanna. "I'm Emily."

Hanna shook her hand, beaming. "So nice to finally meet you, Emily." Her eyes flashed. "Paige hasn't stopped talking about you all morning."

Paige flushed and glared at Hanna. This was not going well. Before she could open her mouth her pager went off. Saved by the bell. She snapped it off and glanced at the number. Wilden. "Sorry, I have to return this." She said, not sorry at all.

"Of course." Emily's face fell a little. "See you?"

"Um, yeah." Paige smiled, hesitantly. "I hope so." She grabbed Hanna by the arm and pushed her back to the elevators.

"Smooth, McCullers." Hanna laughed. "You gotta let me in on your secret."

"Shut it." Paige hissed as she waited for the doors to open.

Hanna laughed harder. "You must have the ladies falling at your feet-" She yelped as the doors opened and Paige shoved her inside.

* * *

><p>"Paige!" Hanna snapped. "Are you even listening to me?"<p>

They sat in the cafeteria. There were no cases today. Paige had spent the rest of the morning going over her report with Dr. Wilden. He seemed pleased and signed off on it without too many questions. She had planned to spend the afternoon getting the tox samples boxed up and sent to Philly for analysis but, for now, she just wanted to brood as she tore a napkin into strips all over the table. Alone.

"Don't you have a class or something you should be at?" She muttered.

"Ouch." Hanna jerked back. "That's harsh."

Paige's head snapped up at Hanna's hurt tone. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Han." She met her eyes. "I just had a shitty weekend."

"I get it." Hanna was quick to forgive. She caught the movement of someone coming over. "I think your day is looking up, my friend. "Emily, hey." She greeted.

Paige whipped around in her chair so fast her neck cracked audibly. Emily stood there, with her shy, uncertain smile and two cups of coffee.

She held out a cup. "I don't know how you take it." She produced a handful of sweeteners and cream from her lab coat pocket after Paige took the offered cup.

"Um, black is good." She said, her eyes flicking to Hanna.

"If you'll excuse me, Ladies." Hanna grinned. "I have a class I'm late for."

Emily nodded. "Bye, Hanna."

Paige stood and gestured to the chair. "Join me?"

"Thank you." Emily sat and proceeded to dump all the cream and sugar into her own coffee.

"Why don't you just drink something else if you don't like the taste?" She asked amused.

"I do like the taste." She took a sip. "Afterwards."

Paige raised her own cup. "Fair enough."

Emily looked at her for a long moment. "What was that with you and Alison before?" She asked.

Paige gave her a grim smile. "We don't exactly get along."

"No kidding." Emily laughed softly and Paige thought her heart was going to explode. "Any particular reason?"

Paige shrugged. "We just...misunderstand each other, I guess." What Paige really wanted to say was she's a hateful, conniving bitch but she didn't think that would impress her.

Paige obviously wasn't going to go into detail about it and it really wasn't her business. She tried again anyway. "Why did she call you Evie?"

"Oh." Paige laughed around her coffee. "Short for eviscerator. She thinks it hurts my feelings."

Emily thought about it for a moment. "Evi -scerator." She tried it out as a name. "Clever."

Paige nodded, enthusiastically. "I know, right? I'm thinking of making it my roller derby name."

Emily's eyes lit up. "You're a derby girl?"

Paige laughed. "Um, no, but I've always thought it would be totally cool." She admitted.

Emily agreed. "We should go to a bout sometime."

Paige eyed her over her coffee. Was she flirting with her? "Sure." She said noncommittally.

"So." Emily toyed with her own cup. "Did you find some time to celebrate your birthday?"

Paige nodded, slowly, the scene with Shana replaying in fast forward through her head. "I, uh, just relaxed at home. Pizza and a movie."

"Oh?" Emily looked a question. "What movie?"

Paige was suddenly embarrassed. Emily seemed so poised, so mature, so classy. She probably had a DVD library of the classics and could quote Casablanca and Breakfast at Tiffany's while Paige had all the taste of a 15 year old boy. She cleared her throat. "The Avengers."

"Mmmmm." Emily hummed. "Black Widow."

Paige's eyes bugged. She was flirting. But, then again, who didn't think Scarlett Johanssen was hot?

"Listen…" Emily suddenly sat up, nervously fiddling with her cup, unable to meet Paige's eyes. "There's something I want to ask you."

Paige's heart leapt to her throat and she leaned forward as well, elbows on the table. "I'm listening."

"I'd like for you to come with me-"

"I'd love to!"

"-to see the sister of the dead boy you autopsied yesterday." Emily finished.

"Wait! What?" Paige's head jerked.

Emily pressed on as if she hadn't spoken. "I wasn't honest with you and I'm sorry. I do know...I did know that man. He is...was...the younger brother of a good friend of mine and she's beside herself about the accident and she asked me to come down for the case. I'm sorry, Paige, I know I shouldn't have but I was just trying to help."

Paige blinked at her. "I don't understand. What are you asking me?"

Emily took a breath and started over. "My friend, Aria, she thinks something is very wrong with the way Mike died. Well, as if there's ever anything right about that sort of thing. Anyway, she had some questions and I tried to explain it all to her but she doesn't believe me and I thought, if you came with me, she'd have to believe you and maybe she could start dealing with this and making some arrangements."

Paige let out a loud breath and raked her hands through her hair. "That's insane, Emily. I can't do that. You shouldn't do that. It's a huge privacy violation." Paige was starting to panic at the thought she could get in trouble. "I could lose my job." If she lost her job she'd be on the hook for her tuition. The idea of that made her break out in a cold sweat.

Emily could see her distress. "You're right." She reached a hand out to Paige's arm soothingly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have asked that of you."

Paige stared stupidly at Emily's hand around her wrist, skin on skin. It felt so good, her mouth went dry and all thoughts of tuition debt flew out of her head. She met Emily's gaze and thought, perhaps, she'd ask for a kiss in trade. She jerked her head and blinked hearing herself say. "Okay."

"Okay?" Emily asked in surprise. "Are you sure?"

Paige blew out a breath. "I can't tell her anything she wouldn't read in the report anyway."

Emily beamed at her. "Thank you, Paige." She gave Paige's arm a gentle squeeze that referred right to her heart. "It means a lot to me."

Paige skipped down the stairs from the cafeteria back to the basement trying hard not to think of seeing Emily again after work as a date. They were going to see a woman whose kid brother just died tragically but somehow all Paige could focus on was the feel of Emily's hand against her bare skin.

She pushed open the double doors to the morgue and slammed right into Garrett Reynolds the man from Environmental Services whose job it was to maintain and clean the morgue. Paige staggered and he gripped onto her arm, hard, to keep her from falling.

"Careful!" He growled and jerked her back up right before letting her go.

She winced and rubbed her arm, almost wishing he had just let her fall. "Sorry, Garrett." She mumbled. She was always uneasy around him. He was not much taller than she but thickly muscled. He was dark and always had a couple days beard growth. He always did a good job but he had a dark way about him, a sullenness that unsettled her.

Hanna thought it was particularly funny that the maintenance man creeped her out when she was the one elbow deep in the dead bodies. Paige would much prefer the company of the dead to Garrett Reynolds.

He also had this annoying way of always finding something wrong no matter how well she cleaned up after herself.

"There was tissue stuck in the drain again." He rumbled.

"What?" Paige frowned at him. He gestured to the center of the floor with the mop handle. "Oh, sorry." She edged past him and he moved off through the doors to the hallway. Paige noticed he had a limp and opened her mouth to ask him about it but changed her mind as it would mean actually talking to him.

Paige went to the freezer and grabbed the fluids for Mike Montgomery. She always took double of everything. One set to send to Philly and another to store here for a while in case something happened at the lab, a sample was compromised or lost or the police or legal teams wanted to run their own analysis. It wasn't standard protocol, something she just did on her own. She boxed up the set to go out, packed it in dry ice and left it in a locked box outside the bay doors to be picked up by the courier later tonight. The spares she stuck back in the freezer. She would dispose of them when the case was closed out.

Paige showered and changed in the locker room. She told Emily she would pick her up at the Emergency Department entrance a little after 5:00 as Emily lived in an apartment nearby so she could walk. She didn't own a car.

Paige combed out her hair and threw it in a quick braid so it wasn't so obvious it was still wet. She looked herself over and was grateful she had managed to do a couple of loads of laundry. Her jeans fit her well and her red v-neck t-shirt was clean and and in one piece. She threw an army green button down on over it and fastened a couple of buttons. This was the best she could do. She laced up her boots.

Paige pulled around to the fire lane and put her hazards on. She got out of the car to wait practicing her somber, sympathetic expression. It went to hell when she saw Emily come out the sliding doors and she beamed. Emily was in black pants and a silk, deep blue, button down blouse, black heeled boots and understated silver earrings. She looked amazing and Paige had to bite her lip to keep from saying so. Not a date. Not a date.

"Nice car." Emily said appreciatively as she opened the passenger door slid into the gray leather seat.

Paige made a move, about to come around and close the door for her and covered it by pretending to look at something under the front bumper. "Fuck." She breathed and counted to three before she popped back up. "It's fine." She said vaguely.

Emily frowned at her but didn't comment. "Do you know Rosewood Heights Apartments?" She asked.

Paige nodded. A good friend of Shana's lived there. "I do. Is that where we're going?"

"Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hi, Sweetie, how are you holding up?" Emily said softly when the door opened and she pulled the small woman into her arms. She held her for a moment, swaying slightly before letting her go.

She was smaller even than Hanna with enormous dark eyes, red rimmed from crying and long, wavy hair that was beautiful even in the hasty ponytail . She looked pale, her mouth tight with disbelief and sorrow.

"I'm….here." She managed. Anything else would have been a lie.

Emily turned to Paige. "This is Paige McCullers. She's the woman I told you about who took care of Mike at the hospital." She made it sound as if Paige had done something to help him or ease his pain, not gutted him, weighed his liver and cut the top of his skull off. "Paige, this is Aria Montgomery, Mike's sister."

Aria's lips twitched in what might have been the effort of smiling. "Thanks for coming out here." She offered and moved into the apartment expecting them to follow.

Whatever Paige was expecting, empty wine bottles, take out containers and dirty clothes strewn about by someone lost in grief this was not it. The apartment was immaculate. The light was low, scented candles burned softly and music came somewhere from another room. The kitchen smelled of fresh baked bread and what little clutter there was took the form of an easel and painting supplies in a corner by the window. Probably with the best light.

The walls were adorned with paintings, obviously Aria's from the paint stains on her hands and, while Paige couldn't tell what any of them were exactly, they evoked an emotion that made her feel safe and happy and therefore,to her, they were good.

There was a wine bottle on the coffee table with three glasses. Aria curled up on the sofa and tucked her legs under her and Emily poured for the three of them, Aria clutching her glass tightly in her small hands. Emily handed Paige a glass before settling near to Aria on the sofa

"Thanks." Paige said and sat on the edge of an overstuffed chair, her eyes flicking around the room. This woman handled her grief well. She looked to Emily who gave her a small nod. Paige cleared her throat and sent up a silent prayer that she not fuck this up. "I'm very sorry about your brother, Aria." Her eyes flicked to Emily again. "I understand you have some questions about what happened and I'll try and answer them if I can."

Aria nodded, tears glittering in her eyes. "Did he suffer?" She whispered.

Paige shook her head. "No, I don't think he did. The impact was high and I believe he was killed almost instantly."

Aria swallowed heavily and let out a breath. "They're going to say he was drunk." She said.

Paige looked to Emily for help but Emily was watching Aria. "Um, well, I took blood and other fluids for analysis. It will be sent to the lab in Philly. We won't have the results back for a while yet but from what I saw from the police report your brother drove out in front of an oncoming ambulance on the way to another accident. I can't imagine he wouldn't have seen or heard it if he hadn't been drinking." Paige said as gently as she could.

Aria's eyes glittered angrily in the low light. "Mike hardly drank." She clenched her hands tightly around the wineglass. "He was into his fitness. Ate healthy, exercised drank water constantly." She looked to Emily. "There's no way he would have been that drunk." She looked back to Paige. "And that bar he was at? Tiny's Pool Hall or something. He would never have been there. He doesn't play pool."

Paige shrugged, helplessly. "I'm sorry, I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Then what would you know?" Aria snapped.

"Aria." Emily admonished gently. "Paige is just trying to help."

Paige opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. "I can tell you what killed him." She offered. "He was hit square on the driver's side. His aorta was torn. He bled to death in seconds."

Aria's lips thinned. She already knew all this. "Can you look again?" She asked in a small voice. "There must be something. He didn't drink, he wouldn't have been there." She shook her head and began to cry.

Emily set her glass on the table and scooted over, gathering her friend into her arms and whispering soothingly to her.

Paige looked away, the woman's grief and desperation like a punch in the gut. Her job was unusual but she rarely got emotional about it. The people on her table were dead, gone, not people anymore. It was easy to stay detached, make a joke and go home. Now though, that young man had a family, a sister that loved him and was looking for a different truth about his death.

Paige didn't know if she could give that to her but, she decided, it wouldn't hurt to take another look. She slid off the chair and knelt on the floor in front of the sofa. "I'll go through the report again."

Aria turned wide, hopeful eyes to her. "You will?"

"I will." Paige nodded. "I can't promise anything but if there is something that looks suspicious, anything at all, I'll bring to to the attention of my boss and the police, okay?" She thought for a moment. "Hold off on funeral arrangements for now so I can take a look at his body again if I need to."

Aria nodded and wiped tears from her face. "Thank you." She breathed.

* * *

><p>Paige dropped her head back against the seat and let out a long, ragged breath. "Fuck." She breathed, forgetting Emily was in the car.<p>

"Are you alright?" Emily asked softly.

"Sorry." Paige sat up. "That was just...intense." She gave a small laugh. "Just ignore me." She looked at Emily realizing she was thinking of only of herself and her own discomfort. "I'm sorry about Aria. Does she have someone? I mean, besides you?"

"Yes." Emily nodded. "Their parents died a few years ago, in a car accident if you can believe that? That's making this all the more difficult for her, I know. She's engaged, to a really wonderful guy. I don't know where he was tonight but he's never far away. He's been great."

Paige let out a breath. "That's good." She noticed lines of strain around Emily's eyes and something else occurred to her. "You knew him, too, didn't you? Mike?"

Emily swallowed and looked away. "Yes." She said softly. "When we were younger. I haven't seen him in a while and we weren't close but yeah, I knew him."

"I'm sorry." Paige said and thought back to the autopsy and how hard that must have been for her. "I hope I didn't…" She began. "I hope you don't think I...Jesus, I feel like kind of an asshole." She finished finally.

"What?" Emily asked surprised. "Why?" She studied Paige's face and thought she understood. "You didn't know. You were doing your job. I work in the field, too, Paige and know what it's like. What you have to do sometimes to get through."

"Gallows humor." Paige murmured.

"Yes." Emily agreed and grew quiet for a moment. "And coming out here with me, what you said to Aria was really kind. Are you really going to look at her brother's case again?."

"Of course." Paige was surprised. She certainly said things she shouldn't sometimes but, she rarely said anything she didn't mean. Emily didn't know that about her though. "I hope I didn't make things worse."

Emily smiled grimly. "I'm not sure things could be worse." She looked away out the window. "Let's get out of here."

Paige nodded, relieved and started the car. "Where am I taking you?"

"To dinner, I hope." Emily answered with a smile. "Well, you're driving anyway. I'll buy. It's the least I can do."

Paige's mouth quirked in the beginnings of a smile. "What are you in the mood for?"

Emily blew out a breath and raked her hands through her hair. "Some place lively. I need laughter and music, I think." She considered for a moment. "And an enormous juicy burger."

Paige laughed as she backed out of the lot. "I know just the place."

Paige pulled into the familiar lot and Emily peered up at the glowing neon sign. "The Hungry Owl?" She said with a smile.

Paige grinned. "I think it's just what the doctor ordered." She loved this place and came here frequently but she hadn't been for a while. She needed something familiar and comfortable. After spending time with so much grief she was feeling vulnerable, too. She hadn't yet considered the ramifications of what bringing Emily here would be.

"Paige!" A chorus of voices greeted her when she walked in and her mouth gaped. Oops. She looked at Emily, sheepishly.

Emily eyes danced and she fought a smile. "I think there was a show about this in the 80's."

"I'm familiar with it." Paige waved and offered a smile to a few people as they called out and waved for her to come over. Monday night was on the quiet side but the usual suspects were there and a table full of old ladies in the corner up by a small stage was particularly rowdy.

Paige ushered Emily to a booth at the back and slid in opposite her, grabbing menus off the table and pretending to peruse it to hide her embarrassment. She already knew everything they had to offer.

"Hey, Paige." A bright, young server greeted her and dropped coasters in front of both of them. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey, Angie." Paige smiled. "You know I can't stay away for long."

"The usual?" She asked and Paige nodded. The pretty little woman turned to Emily and looked her over. "You sure you're in the right place?" She asked with a wink. Emily had noticed immediately she was decidedly overdressed. The place, while charming, was one piece of popcorn on the floor away from being a dive.

Emily took it in stride. "I'll let you know later." She said with a pointed look to Paige and smiled inwardly as she reddened under her gaze.

"What can I get you?" She asked.

"What are you having?" Emily asked Paige.

Paige flushed again. "PBR in a can." She admitted.

"Seriously?" Emily laughed.

Paige shrugged. "When in Rome."

Emily smiled at the server. "Make it two."

"Anything to eat?"

Emily studied the menu for a moment before Paige reached across and closed it for her. "May I?"

Emily raised her eyebrows with a smile. "Please."

"Two Owl burgers, medium with the works. One with onion rings and one fries." She looked at Emily who nodded her approval.

"Coming right up." She moved off to the bar and returned in moments with two ice cold beers in cans, no glasses.

Emily eyed it for a moment before popping the top and taking a long drink. "Aaaaahhhhh." She said dramatically and thunked the can on the table.

Paige choked a laugh around her own beer. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Only a little." She admitted and looked around the bar. In truth she was enjoying herself immensely and Paige bringing her here had managed to clear her mind and ease her troubles. Paige was delightfully fresh and real. So different from the residents and attendings she spent her days with. All ambition and ego.

"So." She said turning back to Page. "Come here often?" Emily took the moment to look at her as Paige relaxed into the booth, one arm slung across the back as she sipped her beer. She was easy going, quick to laugh, as much at herself as anything else. Emily loved that quality. She was striking to look at. Clear pale skin, intelligent and humorous eyes and, though she didn't dress to show it off Emily knew she had a body she took care of and her voice, deep and smoky, sent chills through her.

Paige laughed. "Picked up on that, did you?" She spun the beer can around on the table. "I do, actually. I love it here. It's just no bullshit, you know, and the people here don't care what I do for work all day. They've never even asked. It's just nice to have a place to relax and...well...we all have our vices." She added cryptically.

Emily cocked an eyebrow at her in question but didn't ask. She didn't believe Paige was a heavy drinker or into anything else untoward. Maybe pool? There were a couple of tables in the back. Before she could say anything else their food arrived.

Emily's mouth watered at the basket of enormous juicy burger and fries. She snatched an onion ring from Paige's and popped it into her mouth. "This is perfect." She sighed. "Thank you."

Paige took a much too large bite of her burger, toppings dripping out the sides. "You're paying." She mumbled with her mouthful.

Emily smiled, her eyes flashing. "You can get the next one."

Paige's heart gave a lurch. There was going to be a next one. She crammed more food in her face to hide her excitement.

Conversation was spare as they ate and Paige was pleased to discover Emily ate a dripping burger with enthusiasm. Women that picked like birds at salads irritated her. They had just finished eating when Angie slid a couple more beers onto the table.

Paige wiped her mouth. "We didn't order these."

Angie laughed. "There from the Biddies." She turned to look over her shoulder at the old ladies, laughing and waving in their direction. "But they come with a price."

Paige groaned as Angie slid a small square of paper onto the table.

"The Biddies?" Emily frowned and looked past Angie to the women.

"It's what they call themselves." Paige explained about the table of six women, probably all in their seventies. "They tell their husbands it's bridge club and then come here for the night."

"For what?" Emily asked.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen!" A voice crackled from the stage through a microphone. "Welcome to the Hungry Owl Monday night Karaoke!" He shielded his eyes pretending to squint through a spotlight. "I'm Holden Strauss and I'll be your host for the evening." He smiled, crookedly. "It looks like we have some new faces her tonight and some old one's as well. Hey, Paige!" He called.

Paige laughed. "Hey, Holden!" She gave him a wave.

"So, we have a request and we're going to kick off the evening in right style. Paige, would you do the honors?" Holden gestured to her with the mike.

Paige gulped and blushed furiously, shaking her head. Shit. She looked at Emily watching her with barely controlled laughter in her eyes. "Just eating tonight, Holden." She called nervously.

The Biddies cackled their displeasure and Paige ducked as a coaster sailed past her head.

"Come on, Paige!" Holden jeered. "We all know you want to impress your lady friend, who if I may, is most lovely."

Emily beamed and nodded her thanks at his compliment before turning to Paige. "Yes, come on, Paige." She teased. "Impress me."

Paige pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and sighed. She flipped over the square of paper, her eyes going wide. "Oh, shit." She breathed with a laugh.

Emily clapped along with the room as Paige stood and stripped off her button down to her t-shirt and headed to the stage. She stepped up behind the microphone stand and spoke briefly to Holden as they shared a laugh about something.

Emily steepled her hands in front of her mouth to hide her smile. She was giddy with nerves and excitement as she watched Paige shake her hair loose from its braid and ran her fingers through it a couple of times to get it sticking up in places. She gripped the mike in the stand and hung her head waiting for the music.

A hard guitar blared from the speakers and the drums pounded a fast beat. Emily cocked her head trying to place the song before the lyrics scrolled up on the screen over Paige's head.

_I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation_

_You're living in the past it's a new generation_

_A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do_

_And I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation_

_Oh, no, not me_

Emily's mouth dropped open before she cracked up as Paige did a fair rendition of Joan Jett's _Bad Reputation_ along with the machine. Her voice ground out the lyrics and she strutted across the stage flipping off the Biddies much to their enormous delight and timing the guttural vocals perfectly. This was obviously not her first time.

Emily shook her head and grinned like a fool as Paige postured and growled her way through the song. She held her own though the talent scouts wouldn't be calling anytime soon her enthusiasm was infectious and the entire crowd, such as it was, was singing along.

When the music cut off the patrons roared with laughter and applause and stood to clap Paige on the back as she walked by. She was obviously well liked here and Emily's eyes sparkled with desire as she weaved her way back.

Paige dropped onto her side of the booth and popped the top on her beer taking several long swallows. "Oh, God, Joan Jett kills my throat." She croaked. "But Axl Rose is worse so I guess I can't complain."

Emily beamed at her. "You, Paige McCullers, are a woman of many layers."

Paige grinned. "Like that did you?"

"You are hilarious." Emily nodded and sipped her own beer. "You have a thing for 80's music?"

Paige nodded enthusiastically. "Greatest decade of music ever."

"When were you born '88? '89?" Emily asked, fishing.

"'89" Paige admitted. "But could you imagine if we were only allowed to enjoy music from the years in which we lived?" Her eyes went wide in mock horror. "No Beatles, Elvis, Joplin or CCR."

"No Poison, Whitesnake or Dexy's Midnight Runners?" Emily asked with merriment.

Paige eyed her. "Come on, Eileen." She replied teasingly.

"We'd be left with Justin Beiber and Carly Rae what's her face and Katy Perry." Emily added.

Paige took another drink to hide her smile. "I like Katy Perry."

Emily smiled in return and tapped her can with Paige's. "So do I."

* * *

><p>Paige parked her car in front of Emily's apartment, the bottom floor of a three level old Victorian near the hospital. Her palms were sweaty on the wheel, suddenly unsure of herself. Had this been a date she would walk her to her doorstep maybe see about a kiss but she didn't know what this was. She knew what she wanted it to be, though.<p>

"Thank you." Emily broke the silence. "I had a really nice time."

Paige turned to see Emily watching her intently. "Yeah, me, too." She took a deep breath and just put her intentions out there. Better to find out sooner rather than later if she didn't have a chance. "So, I maybe should have asked this earlier…" Her mouth suddenly went dry and she licked her lips to moisten them. "...but are you seeing anyone?"

Emily pressed her lips together to keep from smiling but laughter danced in her eyes. Paige had worked up a lot of courage to ask her that and it only endeared her to Emily more. "No, I'm not" Emily let loose a dazzling smile before leaning in to kiss a stunned Paige on the cheek.

She opened her door, climbed out and closed it all before Paige had a chance to recover. She leaned back in through the passenger window. "But I hope we can do this again." She added before winking seductively at her and bouncing up the walkway to her door.

Paige could only stare, mouth agape and cheek tingling, as she watched Emily disappear into her apartment with a wave.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm pleased to say the early reviews have been great! I'm shooting up another chapter because A) you all are the best and it makes me happy to see so many people enjoying the story and B) I want the whole thing posted before the 21st. I may need to double up again so that happens. Read on.**

* * *

><p>Paige was wrestling the gurney out of the cooler with Tuesday's case. A hospital case of a woman so large she hung over the sides. Paige was not looking forward to moving her around but she wanted to get it done so she could take another look at Mike Montgomery's file and have an excuse to go find Emily later. Did she need an excuse? She was still unclear about the entire thing and last night had all taken on a dreamlike quality.<p>

"Watcha doin'?" Hanna chirped from the doorway.

"Jesus Christ!" Paige jumped, losing control of the gurney and smashing her right hand between the tray rail and the door jamb. "Mother fucker!" She jerked her hand out, shaking it and glared at Hanna. "What are you a fucking ninja?"

"Sorry." Hanna shrugged. "I thought you heard me come in. I wasn't trying to be quiet."

"Yeah, well…" Paige grumbled clutching her hand.

Hanna moved Paige aside and gripped the gurney, easing out the door and into the autopsy room. "Good God, Woman." She spoke to the body as she wheeled it over to the table. She and Paige positioned themselves on the side of the table opposite where the gurney sat. They leaned across, each grabbing a sheet wrapped body part. "On three." Hanna said and took a deep breath as she counted.

They both pulled mightily making decidedly unladylike noises as the body inched over onto the table. With a final heave the body slid across the table and settled, huge arms flopping over the side. Hanna moved around and jammed the body's arms back up against her sides. "Holy shit." She breathed.

"For real." Paige agreed and snapped her glove off to inspect her hand, gently flexing her fingers.

"Let me see, you big baby." Hanna said and came around to take Paige's hand. The first two knuckles of her hand were swelling and purpling. "Shit, Paige!" She looked at her seriously. "You should get some ice on that."

Paige took her hand back. "We should get this case done." She snapped, the pain in her hand darkening her mood. "I've got shit to do."

Hanna eyed her suspiciously. "You mean besides you job?"

Paige's face softened. "Let's just get through this." She walked around the body. "What do you think?" Offering to play their usual game.

Hanna considered the woman. "Obstructive sleep apnea or positional asphyxia." She said. "What was she here for?"

Paige moved to the counter and checked the chart."CABG. Coronary artery bypass graft."

"I know what it stands for." Hanna shot back.

"Fine." Paige laughed. "Care to amend?" She unwrapped the sheet from the rest of the woman taking note of the dusky color of her legs.

Hanna thought for a moment. "No. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

"I'm going with pulmonary embolism secondary to deep leg vein thrombosis." Paige stated.

"Bold choice, my friend." Hanna gowned and moved to the docking station."What's your pleasure?" She asked as she dropped her phone in."

"I think it's a Dr. Hook kind of morning" She requested.

Hanna laughed. "Wow, you are in a mood." She hit play and "_Cover of the Rolling Stone _blared through the speakers.

For the next three quarters of an hour they worked without speaking. Doing the external, taking notes and photos, and opening the chest cavity.

"The moment of truth." Paige stood on the stool and carefully opened the main pulmonary arteries in situ. "Bam!" She grinned and moved for Hanna to see the large saddle embolus.

"Damnit!" Hanna groaned. "I never get it." She raised the camera and Paige held the ruler to document the finding.

"Live and learn, my friend." Paige turned as the doors from the hallway swung in. "That will be a six of Stella, please."

"Good morning, Ladies." Dr. Wilden strolled in wearing his usual khaki pants and button down shirt, obviously not dressed to aid them with the case. He picked up the chart, absently flipping through it. "What have we got?"

"PE." Paige said and otherwise ignored him. She thought he was a pompous ass. Her opinion of him lessened further every time she saw a woman making dreamy eyes at him. He was good looking and he knew it. All chiseled, model features and a body that spent way too much time at the gym. He probably flexed in front of the mirror.

He was her boss, however, and, as annoyed as she was that he never deigned to get his hands dirty she did enjoy her autonomy and that he trusted her to handle the cases with minimal intervention and oversight.

He peered into the chest cavity. "Nicely done." He said. "I'd like to see the report by the end of the day." He didn't wait for an answer but breezed over to the cooler and peered in. "Why is the body from the weekend still here?".

"Haven't heard from the family about a funeral home yet." Paige called back, which was true.

"Call them." Wilden said on his way by to the door. "Get it out of here."

"Nice ass."

"Asshole."

Hanna and Paige muttered at the same time and glared at each other.

"Speaking of nice asses." Hanna said as she resumed her work.

"We weren't." Paige continued cutting.

"I don't mean to pry…" She continued.

"Since when?" Paige snorted.

"What happened between you and Dr. McSultry?" Hanna asked, all her attention on Paige now.

Paige laughed and shook her head. "I'm not prepared to discuss this with you right now."

Hanna eyed her over her mask. "So something happened?" Paige smiled beneath her mask and Hanna could see her eyes crinkle. "Oh, my God, Paige! Did you hit that?"

Paige's head snapped up. "What? No!" She glared at Hanna. "We went to dinner last night." She knew Hanna totally baited her into that and didn't really believe Paige slept around. If anything Hanna thought Paige was too cautious.

"Oh yeah?" Hanna gloated. "Where?"

Paige winced. She knew what was going to happen next. "Hungry Owl." She muttered.

Hanna's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, what?" Hanna blinked and shook her head. "I must not have heard you correctly because I could have sworn you said you took her to the Owl?"

Paige sighed and continued working.

"Oh, Paige." Hanna laughed. "Please, tell me you did not take a class act like that to your dumpy karaoke bar."

Paige remained silent.

"I'm afraid to ask my next question." Hanna started again.

"Joan Jett _Bad Reputation_." Paige confessed.

"Holy fuck, Paige!" Hanna stared at her. "Did she run out of there screaming?"

Paige grinned beneath her mask. "She wants to see me again, I think."

Hanna shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, you must emit some weird lesbian pheromones or something."

Paige laughed. "Can we just get through this, please?"

* * *

><p>Paige took Mike Montgomery's file with her to the cafeteria, including the autopsy photos she printed out. She sat at a table near a window far from prying eyes, out of the din and for better light.<p>

The flipped pages with her left hand, her right resting on the table, a bag of ice melting over the back of her hand.

"Black." Emily said proudly and set a cup of coffee down in front of Paige.

Paige looked up and smiled. "Hi. I was hoping you'd find me."

Emily dropped into the chair across from her and frowned, picking up the dripping bag of ice. "What happened to your hand?" She brushed her fingers across the bruised and swollen knuckles.

"Oh." Paige shrugged. "Hazard of the job."

"Paige." Emily picked up her hand and held it in both of hers tilting it in the light and palpating around the swelling. "Does that hurt?"

Paige winced. "Nope."

Emily scowled at her. "You really should get that looked at."

Paige grinned. "I am."

"An x-ray." Emily argued.

Paige shied away, mockingly. "I don't like needles."

Emily sighed in defeat. "At least let me get you some more ice."

Paige watched her walk back to the beverage machine and fill a large cup with ice bringing to back to the table. She set it down and stuck Paige's hand in it. "Okay?"

"Thanks." Paige nodded. She did appreciate the help. It hurt like hell and she actually wondered if she had a hairline fracture.

Emily eyed the paper in front of her. "Is that Mike's chart?"

"Yes." Paige slid it toward Emily and ran her left hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, I can't find anything out of the ordinary. If I missed something I don't see it. The police report is complete if a little sparse. He was leaving the bar coming out of the drive which is up on a hill. Looks like he drove right into oncoming traffic. The sky was clear, the road was dry. It was like 3:00 am or something so no witnesses. He got t-boned by an ambulance on it's way to another call up the road."

Emily sighed. "I didn't really expect you would find something." She smiled appreciatively. "Thank you for trying. It means a lot."

Paige wasn't satisfied and chewed her lip in thought. Aria was so certain. Though, Paige didn't know her at all she wondered if, in fact, there wasn't more to the case. "If you don't mind I'd like to show the case to Hanna. Get a fresh pair of eyes on it."

"Hanna? Really?" Emily was skeptical.

Paige smiled. "Hanna is deceptively smart and she loves a good puzzle. If there's something here she'll see it."

Emily nodded her agreement. "May I join you?"

Paige looked at her in surprise. "Um, sure. Aren't you working?"

"I'm off shift in an hour." Emily rose and moved to Paige's side, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "I can come down and meet you then?"

Paige looked up at her, her heart hammering in her chest at the simple touch. "Sure." She squeaked. She cleared her throat. "Yeah, okay." She tried again but not before she noticed the flash of amusement in Emily's eyes.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry." Hanna gaped at her. "Explain this to me again." She sat with the file clutched in her lap. "No, wait." She held up her hand. "Let me see if I have this right." She took a dramatic breath. "Emily Fields crashed your case Sunday because she's friends with the dead guy's sister who, by the way, doesn't think his death was an accident. Which there is no evidence of, of course. Emily asked you to go with her to see the sister and explain the case. Something you could both lose your jobs over, by the way, and because this woman has you wrapped around her finger already you agree to take another look at the file. You don't find anything, of course, because there is nothing to find but because you are so desperate to get into this woman's pants you're now dragging me into it." Hanna took a breath. "Did I miss anything?"<p>

"Who's getting in whose pants?" Emily asked as she walked up to the two of them at the counter.

Paige whirled, her face reddening. "Nothing." She gulped. "No one."

Hanna smothered a laugh. "Jesus Christ." She breathed. "Let me take a look." She opened the file and spread the contents out on the counter.

Emily and Paige tried not the hover as Hanna went through the file thoroughly. She read every page, looked at the photos and poured over Paige's autopsy report. Her eyes kept dragging back to the photos and Paige noticed as she stood behind her, chewing on a thumbnail.

"What is it?" She finally asked when Hanna flipped through the photos again.

Hanna shook her head slowly. "Probably nothing." She mumbled. "Tell me about his legs." She tapped the close up Emily had taken."

Paige peered over her shoulder. "Bilateral, compound tib-fib fractures." She said. "Not much else to tell."

Hanna frowned and stretched out her legs in front of her, staring down.

"What are you thinking, Hanna?" Emily asked.

Hanna looked back at Paige's report. "They were in the exact same spot on both legs." She said and looked at Paige. "Unless you totally suck at measuring."

Paige scowled at her. "No, that's right. I thought it was weird, too, and I measured twice."

Hanna studied her legs again in front of her. "His legs would have needed to be in the exact same position, right next to each other for that to happen." She looked up at them. "Who drives like that?"

Emily frowned, considering. "Maybe he braked hard with both feet?" She suggested.

"Maybe." Hanna mused and flipped some pages. "The police report doesn't say anything about skid marks." Hanna shrugged. "Even so, it's strange."

"We can't know for sure though about the fractures, not without an x-ray or a more thorough exam." Paige said. "It could be where the bones broke the skin that makes them measure the same."

Hanna hummed in thought. "We need a bone consult."

Emily looked at her confused. "Ortho?"

"No." Hanna grinned at her. "Anthro."

"Oh, no." Paige grimaced. "Spencer Hastings hates me."

Hanna barked a laugh. "No she doesn't." Paige looked at her askance. "Okay, maybe she does a little but Spencer hates everyone."

"Who's Spencer Hastings?" Emily asked.

"She's a post-doc in forensic anthropology at the university. We've worked together some. She's actually doing research right now on trauma patterns on long bones. She'd totally be into this Paige. Maybe she'd forgive you." She added with a wink.

"Why does she hate you?" Emily asked interested.

Paige made an unpleasant sound. "It wasn't my fault."

Hanna laughed. "This guy shows up down here one day with a bag of bone fragments he found in his yard when he was putting in a Koi pond or something. He had a lot of land, fairly rural and he was totally freaked out that he unearthed a body, thinking he's going to be on TV or have his own reality show or something." Hanna laughed at the memory. "Anyway, we couldn't identify the bones so Paige runs them over to Spencer at her lab. She's in the middle of a study on maceration techniques on human bone and she had bones in the microwave, bones in chafing dishes and all other manner of methods to deflesh she's trying out. It's labor intensive and time consuming to say the least. So, Paige charges in waving this bag of bones around and somehow convinces Spencer to take a look. Anyway, Spencer gets distracted and blows a weeks worth of work when she forgets about her experiment."

"Ooooh." Emily winces. "I can understand why she'd be upset about that. But what about the bones? What were they?"

"That's the punchline." Hanna cracked up. "They were deer bones. Probably some hunter field dressing after a kill."

Paige sighed dramatically. "Anyway, do you want to pursue this thing with the legs?" She looked to Emily. "I mean, it's not much."

Emily's eyes flicked from Hanna to Paige. "It's unusual, though, right?"

"Yeah." Paige shrugged. "It seems odd."

"What would be involved?" Emily looked to Hanna.

"Well, there's nothing Spencer can tell us without looking at the bones. So, my guess is we'll have to disarticulate him and run them over to her." Hanna explained.

Emily shuddered. She didn't know how serious Aria was about this, how far she wanted to take it. She didn't want to make the decision for her, though. "Call her, please." Emily said and pulled her own phone, excusing herself to call Aria.


	6. Chapter 6

"Aria has agreed." Emily said when she returned. "I imagine there is some paperwork for something like this?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, there will be a release form for a...I guess we'll call it a donation to the university. She'll have to go through Wilden. We won't be able to do anything until the paperwork is in order." Paige ran her hands through her hair and winced as her right hand twinged. "Wilden is going to freak out."

"I'll call her back when I leave and let her know to get in touch with him. She's pretty determined so, I suspect you'll be hearing from Dr. Wilden about it tomorrow." Emily said. "Were you able to get in touch with Spencer?"

"Yup." Hanna grinned and eyed Paige. "She's pretty excited to have some more data for her study. It might even make up for the last time."

Paige sighed and rolled her eyes. "It wasn't my fault." She grumbled.

Emily bit down on a smile. "I have to get home." She eyed Paige. "Walk me out?"

Paige's eyebrows rose. "Yeah, sure." She motioned for Emily to head to the door.

They didn't speak as they headed out the main entrance. Emily only had a few of blocks to her apartment and Paige meandered along with her wondering what she should say next. Should she ask her out? Should she play it cool? Was it all just too weird to be thinking about this over the dead body of her friend's brother.

"What are you thinking about?" Emily asked with a small smile.

"What?" Paige's head snapped up. "Nothing. Why?" She asked guiltily.

Emily cocked an eyebrow at her. "I was just wondering if you were planning to walk me all the way home?"

Paige looked up and realized they were already off hospital grounds. "Oh." She smiled, sheepishly. "No, I have to get back. I have a report to write up from this morning."

Emily nodded and studied Paige. She was not like the other women she had been involved with. She was down to earth, self deprecating one moment and bold the next. She was forthright, honest and principled. Looking at Paige she all of the sudden felt like all her past relationships had been meaningless. Paige, for all her wise cracking profanity had so much more substance to her and Emily wanted to know more. She wanted to know it all. "May I cook for you tonight?" She asked, finally.

Paige's eyes lit up. "Yes." So much for playing it cool. "I would like that."

Emily treated her to another dazzling smile. "Good. I would like that, too." She moved down the sidewalk. "7:00?" She called back over her shoulder.

Paige grinned, stupidly. "It's a date."

"Yes, it is." Emily agreed.

* * *

><p>Paige had long since given up trying to be someone she wasn't to try and impress a woman. She cut up dead bodies for a living, drinking cheap beer and singing karaoke made happy and she felt most comfortable in jeans, t-shirts and good broken in pair of hiking boots. She wasn't a complete idiot, though.<p>

She washed and dried her hair, leaving it loose around her shoulders, a hair band around her wrist. She slipped into the jeans that hung low on her hips and hugged her ass in a way she knew people noticed and slipped on a fitted v-neck t-shirt that showed off her sculpted arms and shoulders and, when she moved just right, lifted to give anyone looking a glimpse of toned abs. She never said she wasn't proud.

She swung by her parents house on the way over to Emily's to water their plants. While there she helped herself to their garden and arranged a small bouquet of black eyed susans, day lilies and daisies. She didn't know what Emily was making so she rifled the wine rack for a nice chardonnay and merlot to cover her bases. She had failed to ask what she could bring.

"It's open!" Emily called at the knock.

Paige let herself in and followed the aroma of garlic and and sound of sizzling to the kitchen. She moved through a hallway that opened up into an open concept living room, dining room and kitchen. The floors were hardwood covered with scattered area rugs and beat up, mismatched but, exceedingly comfortable looking furniture.

Paige considered the decor and raised an eyebrow in surprise. She wouldn't have have pegged Emily for the bohemian type.

Emily wiped her hands on a towel and came to greet her. "Hi." She smiled shyly her eyes following Paige's gaze. "Oh." She laughed. "My tastes don't really run that eclectic. The apartment came furnished. All my stuff is in storage. I didn't have a lot of time and the price and location were right."

"I like it." Paige said with a nod.

"Yes." Emily agreed. "It has it's charm but I feel like I'm on vacation all the time. Or still in college. I miss my things." She eyed Paige. "Are those for me?"

"Yes." Paige held the flowers for her. "I just stumbled onto them." She said with a wink.

"Mmm hmmm." Emily replied. "Is some little old lady down the road going to be missing her prized flower garden because you wanted to make a good impression?"

"Maybe." Paige grinned. "Is it working?"

Emily took the flowers, her mouth quirking in a smile. "Maybe." She moved back to the kitchen to put them in water. "They're lovely, thank you."

Emily reached into a high cabinet for a vase and Paige took the opportunity to check her out. She, too, dressed for comfort in wide, flowing black cotton pants that draped down her long legs beautifully ending in bare feet and clinging deep purple tank that showed a lot of bronze skin and soft curves.

Paige shook herself from her naughty thoughts and joined her. "I didn't know what we were having." She held out the two bottles of wine while eyeing the various pans on the stove. "And I don't have your number."

"Well, let's see what we can do about that." She reached behind Paige and deftly plucked her phone from her back pocket and entered her number, fighting a smile the whole time. She elected to set it on the counter instead of returning it.

"Thanks." Paige choked out.

"Open the merlot." Emily said and handed her a corkscrew. "I hope you don't mind red meat two nights in a row?" She lifted a lid from a sizzling pan. "How do you feel about filet mignon with mushroom wine sauce, salad and garlic mashed potatoes?"

Paige was in love. "I say, tell me what I can do to help?"

Emily laughed. "You can pour the wine and set the table. In that order, please, I'm parched." Emily turned to the stove. "Glasses are over next to the sink."

Paige poured Emily a glass of wine and set it next to her on the counter before pouring one for herself. Emily took a sip and rolled it around on her tongue before swallowing. She turned with a smile. "That's really nice." She took another sip. "I wouldn't have figured you for a connoisseur."

Paige grimaced with a smile and hid behind her own glass. "I'm not. I took it from my folks house on the way over." She admitted.

"Ahhh, I see." Emily's mouth quirked. "You stopped by to get some first date tips from you mother and she armed you with all the necessities?"

"Ha!" Paige mocked. "You wound me. I stopped by to water their plants while they're on vacation and paid myself for the work." She eyed Emily. "I have done this before." She defended herself.

"Oh? How often?" Emily teased.

"Well, I daresay I don't yet have enough material to write my memoirs but I'm not a novice." Paige joked.

Emily laughed. "Dinner's ready. Let's take this to the table." She offered.

Paige waited for Emily to sit before taking a bite. "This is amazing." She chewed thoughtfully.

"Thank you." Emily smiled. "So, if you grew up here how did we not know each other? We're the same age."

Paige shook her head and swallowed another bite. "I didn't. I'm from Philly and I came out here to Hollis for college. My folks followed a couple years later to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city as my mom would say. I worked my way through college at the lab and, through some master manipulation, convinced them to send me to grad school if I came back and worked for half rations when I was through."

"A fellow indentured servant." Emily raised her glass.

"Mmm, not quite that bad." Paige grinned. "I know what residents make."

"Yes, I'm not sure why people get the idea that being a physician is lucrative." Emily agreed.

"It's your earning potential." Paige explained.

"So, you're a gold digger?" Emily laughed.

"Yes." Paige nodded enthusiastically. "I like you because I expect you'll be able to keep me in the t-shirts and cheap beer lifestyle to which I have become accustomed."

Emily laughed, her eyes sparkling as she gazed across the table. With every passing moment she could feel herself falling. It was absurd. She had never felt so connected to someone like she did this woman. She tried very hard to keep her mind on Paige's attractive personality and not stray to the body she knew was just a thin layer of cotton away. It made her bold. "So, how is it I find you available? Did I just catch you on an off week?"

Paige grimaced and sat back with her wine, her eyes drifting off around the apartment.

"I'm sorry." Emily hurried on, embarrassed. "I should never had-"

"No." Paige waved her hand and looked back at her. "It's okay." She sighed. "I was involved with a woman for about a year until a few months ago she traded me in for a younger model."

Emily choked on her wine. "You just turned 25!"

Paige raised her glass. "So, you can imagine how much that stings." She said bitterly.

"I'm sorry." Emily frowned then let her expression slide into a smile. "I suppose I should thank her though, huh?" She suggested hoping to pull Paige from the funk she had just put her in.

The light came back on in Paige's eyes. "I suppose I should, too." Paige refilled their glasses. "What about you?" She asked.

"Oh, I've dabbled here and there but, unless I want to date other residents, which I categorically oppose, I don't get much opportunity to meet people. Plus, I just moved here, so…" She trailed off.

Paige bit back a smile. "I was thinking I was asking you about your family but, okay."

Emily blushed, beautifully. "Right." She hid behind her glass for a moment. "I did grow up here. I went to med school in Philly and started my residency there but, like your mom, I wanted out of the city."

"Are your parents here?" Paige asked.

"No, my father is career army and had been stationed in Texas. My mother stayed here with me but when I went to school she sold the house and joined my father. I don't get to see them as much as I'd like." She finished.

"And the other side of that coin is they show up on your doorstep at the most inconvenient times." Paige offered.

"Compromising position?" Emily teased.

"Mmm hmmm." Paige nodded. "Just the once though and they learned their lesson."

"That'll teach them." Emily laughed.

"Indeed." Paige agreed.

"So, how did you get into your line of work...dead PA I think you called it?" Emily asked curiously.

Paige shrugged. "I toyed with the idea of med school but I just didn't want to put in the time. Four more years of school then at least 4 of residency and then fellowships and on and on." Emily nodded in understanding. "This was an alternate way to get in the field. Plus, I realized I'm kind of squeamish."

"I beg your pardon?" Emily's eyes went wide.

"Yeah, I know, weird right?" Paige admitted. "I mean I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. Living people, awesome. I love them. Dead people, I can work with. They're dead. It's the people in the middle, sick, injured, bleeding, mangled or whatever, I have a hard time with." She sipped at her wine some more. "When I was in college I had to do a specimen pick up in the ICU, stat labs or something, Anyway, I nearly lost my mind with all the machines, hissing and breathing for people, the waiting room full of terrified family and friends and death hovering over every bed." She gave a shudder. "So, my respect to you Dr. Fields, because I could never do what you do. I don't even like going into the ED."

"You did yesterday." Emily mentioned with a sly smile.

"Only to see Alison." Paige shot back. "Who, by the way, appeared to be hitting on you. Should I be jealous?"

Emily's face grew serious. "Paige, you totally had me with a can of Pabst." She admitted freely.

Paige grinned. "It took that long?" She teased and her heart near burst at the sound of Emily's laughter.

* * *

><p>Paige stood in the doorway, her nerves jangling in anticipation. "Thank you for dinner." She said softly as Emily leaned against the door jamb, her hands resting behind her back.<p>

"You're very welcome." Emily smiled. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid so." Paige joked and then fell silent. Why was this part always so hard?

Emily pushed herself off the door and closed the distance between them, standing so close her breath fluttered Paige's hair. "May I put you out of your misery?" Emily breathed.

"Yes, please." Paige whispered as Emily leaned in toward her.

Paige let her eyes slide shut as Emily's lips, impossibly soft and sweet brushed against hers. Paige leaned into her, her hands coming up from her sides and freezing in the air, not wanting to get ahead of herself.

Emily sensed the movement and gripped Paige's hands, placing them on her own hips before deepening the kiss with a small sigh.

Paige let Emily lead, their mouths moving gently against each other in a heated yet chaste kiss for another moment before Emily pulled away. Paige, reluctantly, let her go, her hands and lips on fire from the contact.

Emily ran her tongue over her lips in a quick movement that went straight to Paige's core. "You taste nice."

Paige's breath hitched at the suggestive comment and she opened her mouth to speak, unsuccessfully.

"Why do I disarm you so?" Emily teased, enjoying her discomfort and obvious desire. "You don't strike me as a woman so easily unbalanced."

Paige felt her face redden and shook her head with a small laugh. "I'm not." She admitted with a shrug. "You seem to have bewitched me." With considerable effort she hopped down the porch steps toward her car wondering the whole way whether she was going to look back. Who was she kidding?

Emily grinned at her from the front porch and blew her a kiss that Paige thought was just about as sexy as the real thing. Her chest tightened and she was halfway home before her breathing returned to normal.


	7. Chapter 7

"Did you know about this?" Dr. Wilden bellowed, causing both Paige and Hanna to jump, as he stalked toward them and slammed a paper down on the counter in front of them Wednesday afternoon.

Paige peered at it, though she already knew what it was. A release form for selective body donation signed by Aria Montgomery. She looked at him with appropriate surprise. "This is the first I've seen this." She answered, which was the truth..

His face was thunderous. "Take care of it." He growled. "Off the clock." He stalked back out of the room. "And get that body out of here!" He roared as he left.

Hanna chewed her lip. "Well, that went well." She said dryly.

"Jesus, he's pissed." Paige ran a hand through her hair. "Was that weird?"

Hanna shrugged. "He's probably got his knickers in a twist because he had to come down here two days in a row or do extra paperwork or something."

Paige pulled her phone. "I'm texting Emily. She may want to be here."

**We are a go. Are you coming down?**

**Swamped. Meet you out font later?**

**5:00?**

**See you then**

Paige looked at Hanna. "We're not really going to wait until the end of the day are we?"

Hanna shrugged. "You're the boss."

"Wilden's been down here twice in as many days. We probably won't see him again for a week." She dropped her phone in the docking station. "What kind of music says bilateral long bone procurement?"

Hanna considered. "Metallica S & M."

Paige nodded and turned it up to _No Leaf Clover_ before heading to the cooler. She would have to remember to get Emily to talk to Aria about funeral arrangements. She didn't want to push her luck with Wilden and, even in a cooler, a body for too many days begins the get fragrant.

She wheeled the body back out but decided to keep it on the gurney instead of wrestling him back onto the table. "Do you know what we're supposed to doing?" She had never done this before.

"Yup." Hanna said and snapped a blade onto a handle. "We only want the lower leg long bones. We need to mechanically deflesh as much as possible here to make Spencer's job easier but we'll keep enough soft tissue to keep the bones intact. They look like they could be pretty fragmented and if we lose anything we'll be screwed."

Paige crossed her arms to watch as Hanna deftly incised the first leg opposite the fracture site. She teased back the skin from knee to ankle and began to cut away the thick muscle. It was slow going and Paige was glad they decided not to wait.

Hanna eyed her. "Are you going to do the other leg?"

"Mmmm." Paige pretended to think about it. "Nope. You're doing great. I think I better stay out of this lest I incur the wrath of Spencer Hastings again."

Hanna snorted. "You're about to incur my wrath if you don't fucking do something to help." She was working on separating the proximal tibia from the femur at the knee.

Paige looked around. "I'll find something to pack them up in."

"You're a douche." Hanna muttered as she gently worked the bones of the first leg free.

* * *

><p>Emily spied Paige immediately as she came through the sliding doors. She was leaning against her car, hands jammed in the pockets of her loose fitting jeans, a faded batman t-shirt, wide leather belt and hiking boots. Her face was turned up to the sun, eyes closed and offered Emily a chance to gaze at her without her knowing.<p>

Her casual slouch and dress made her seem even younger than her years and Emily, once again, was caught off guard by how drawn she was to her so fast. She was uncomplicated but far from simple. She felt safe. That was it. Emily felt safe with her. And, she had to admit, aroused on many levels.

It took but a moment of looking at her before Emily's mind wandered to impure thoughts and she moved toward her to break the spell. As if being nearer her would lessen her attraction. "Have you been waiting long?"

Paige's eyes snapped open and she grinned at the sight of her. "All my life."

Emily blushed furiously and shook her head. "Don't say things you don't mean."

"I never do." Paige laughed and held the door for her. "Now who's unbalanced?"

Emily sighed, choosing, for her owns sanity, to believe Paige was playing but couldn't ignore the warmth that spread through her chest at Paige's teasing as she slid into the passenger seat. "Is Hanna coming?"

Paige decided to let Emily off the hook. "She's already there." She closed Emily's door and went around to slip behind the wheel. "I know where we're going."

* * *

><p>Emily blew out a slow breath as she stepped carefully into the small, cramped lab. It was overly warm and humid and the smell was musty and old with a background of cooking food. She cringed, inwardly, as she suspected what smelled like food could very well be human.<p>

She stepped further in, being careful to avoid stacks of textbooks, crates, boxes and papers stacked on every available flat surface and balanced precariously on some not so flat ones. The walls were floor to ceiling glassed in cabinets with shelves loaded with partial and complete skeletons, skulls staring blankly from every corner.

Emily's eyes were drawn to the woman, carefully unpacking the box Hanna had set on the table. She was slender, sharp featured with long auburn hair. Her eyes were bright with interest and concentration as she carefully removed one of the legs wrapped in a towel and set it on the table.

"Hey, Emily." Hanna greeted. She motioned to the woman. "This is Dr. Spencer Hastings."

The woman looked up and smiled distractedly. "You must be Dr. Fields."

Emily smiled crossed the room to extend her hand. "Emily, please."

"I'm Spencer." She eyed the items in the box. "Thank you for this. I understand the donor was a friend of yours." She looked to Emily sympathetically. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Emily nodded. "I appreciate you taking the time to help us with this. It's been a really difficult time for my friend Aria, his sister. I don't know if more information is going to help her or not but…" She trailed off.

"It's I who should be thanking you. These will add some great data to my study and be a terrific learning tool for my students." Spencer's eyes flicked to something over Emily's shoulder and her eyes narrowed. "Didn't think you'd be darkening my door again so soon, McCullers."

Paige stood in the doorway, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. She looked to Hanna who was trying not to laugh.

Spencer's mouth twisted up. "Oh, for christ sakes I'm only kidding. You can come in."

Paige smiled hesitantly and moved into the room. She moved to lean against the table.

"Don't touch anything!" Spencer snapped at her.

She jerked upright, eyes wide and jammed her hands in her pockets. "Jeez, alright." She said and glared at Hanna who was losing the battle to keep a straight face.

Spencer returned to the bones. "Let's see what we have here." She snapped on gloves and began to unwrap the first one.

Paige offered some background "The deceased was killed-"

"No." Spencer cut her off. "Don't tell me. I don't want to be prejudiced by the information. I'll take a look at the trauma pattern and tell you what I think. You can tell me if it's consistent with what happened."

"Okay." Paige shrugged. "How long?"

Spencer examined the bones. "There's still a lot of soft tissue and muscle here." She prodded the tissue. "It's dense, too with strong attachments. "He must have been quite young and very fit."

"He was." Emily said, feeling sad for her friends. Paige came to stand beside her, not touching but close enough that Emily could feel the warmth of her. The safety of her.

Spencer looked up from her assessment. "I have the hot water bath ready." She moved to the back of the room. Under a fume hood were two electric metal chafing dishes. The kind you'd spoon your eggs out of at a breakfast buffet. Lining the dish was a removable wire basket.

Spencer placed the first set of bones, gently into the water, deep enough so that they were submerged. "You're going to need to give me until this time tomorrow. With this kind of analysis the process is slow. We can't let the water boil as the rolling might knock the bones around and cause trauma artifact thus skewing the results. We can't use anything harsh to deflesh or we could, likewise, damage the bone. So, what I've got here is sub boiling temps, meat tenderizer to break down the proteins and dish soap to degrease."

Emily's eyes widened in surprise. "It sounds so simple."

Spencer grinned. "It is really." She nodded to her tray of tools, plastic forceps and wood tongue depressors. "You could do this in your kitchen or garage, or anywhere really. The microwave works, too."

"Do you let it…uh...cook… all night?" Paige asked.

"Yup." Spencer sighed. "It's not exactly as seen on TV where you cut to commercial and you come back to a pristine skeleton. This will take, easily, 18-24 hours and the bones will still be a greasy mess but I can get you the information you need."

Emily chewed her lip. "You're going to work all night?" She asked with a frown. "Spencer, you shouldn't have to-"

"Oh no, not me." Spencer grinned. "That's what undergrad work study students are for."

* * *

><p>The three women stepped out into the courtyard in front of Spencer's building. "What now?" Emily asked tiredly.<p>

As if in answer Paige's stomach growled loudly. She placed a hand to her belly to silence it and smiled, embarrassed.

Emily smiled. "Well, that's one vote."

Hanna grinned. "Sounds good to me. I'm famished." She caught Paige's warning glare and sharp shake of her head from behind Emily and smiled wickedly. "I'm thinking pizza, there's a place right on campus that has the best supreme thin crust." She eyed Paige again who looked woebegone and took pity on her. "But, sadly, I have a paper I'm working on so I'm just going to swing by and pick something up for the road." Hanna smirked as Paige's face brightened. "Looks like you two are on your own."

Paige and Emily walked back to Paige's car. Paige couldn't help but notice how tired Emily seemed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." Emily offered a tired smile. "It's just been a long day."

Paige nodded. "Well, I'm not much of a cook but I know a great little chinese takeout place not far from you. I'm happy to pick us up some dinner?"

"Us?" Emily's mouth quirked.

"Oh, uh….well...I just thought….maybe…." Paige stammered. "Forget it."

"I'm kidding, Paige." Emily reached for her hand with a small laugh. "Chinese sounds perfect." She picked up Paige's hand and ran her fingers across it as they walked. "How's your hand?"

Paige wiggled her fingers in Emily's grip. The swelling had gone down but the bruise had turned ugly. "A little tender but it's not interfering with anything I want to do." To prove her point she laced her fingers together with Emily's, eyeing her to gauge her reaction.

Emily smiled and let their hands drop but curled her fingers around Paige's, the warmth of her grip shooting straight to Paige heart and much lower. She fought to keep her expression from giving her away.

* * *

><p>"What did you get?" Emily asked as she watched Paige unpack the large brown paper bag and set white cartons across the coffee table.<p>

"What didn't I get is the more appropriate question." Paige said with a smile as she opened them each a beer Hanna had paid her lost bet with.

"Okay." Emily played along. "What didn't you get?"

"Anything with Tien Tsin chiles." Paige shuddered. "Those little fuckers give me heartburn for days.

Emily laughed. "Noted." She grabbed the nearest carton and a pair of chopsticks and sat on the sofa, one leg tucked beneath her. She opened it and was pleased to find chicken lo mein which she eagerly stabbed into.

Paige went right for a large carton of General Tsao's and jammed a fried egg roll and two crab rangoon in the top of it before she folded herself cross legged on the sofa, sideways so she could face Emily.

Emily eyed her pile of fried food. "I can hear your arteries hardening as we speak." She teased,

Paige nodded around a mouthful. "But it's so good." She mumbled and washed it all down with beer.

"Hmm." Emily carefully gripped a peapod and popped it into her mouth. "I was somehow under the impression you were more into your health." She didn't mind at all she was just curious.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Paige laughed and took an enormous bite of egg roll. "Was it that giant burger and basket of onion rings I put down the other night?" She raised an eyebrow. "Which, by the way, you thoroughly enjoyed, too."

"Oh, I'm not judging...I just thought…" Her eyes flicked to Paige's body. "...you just seem like you spend a lot of time…." She cleared her throat suddenly embarrassed as Paige eyed her with a spark in her eye. "I just mean...oh, christ, nevermind." She huffed with a laugh and raked a hand through her hair.

Paige grinned at her around another mouthful of calories. "You been checking me out, Doc?"

Emily pressed her lips together around an embarrassed smile and tried to hide her blush by swapping cartons on the table. She ended up with a carton of white rice and had to switch them again. She could feel Paige's laughing eyes watching her the whole time.

They made a respectable dent in the food but, in the end, what Emily packed away in the fridge she would be eating for days. She wondered if Paige, knowing how little time and money she ever had, had done that on purpose. She grabbed fresh beers for them and returned to the sofa, this time folding her legs under her to mirror Paige's position but sitting close, their knees almost touching.

She handed Paige a beer and clinked the bottle she held to hers. "Thank you for dinner."

Paige smiled. "It was my pleasure."

Emily's laughing eyes suddenly grew dark. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" She asked.

Paige frowned. "In what regard?"

"With Aria? With supporting this, probably crazy idea that there's more to Mike's death than just a terrible accident?" Emily explained.

Paige shrugged. "You would know better than I." She took a sip of beer. "I don't mind doing what I can to help, if it is, in fact helping."

"That's just it." Emily sighed. "I'm not sure it is. I wonder if we're just dragging this out and making it more painful for her by giving her hope there's some other explanation."

Paige sighed. "I wish I had some sage advice for you but I don't." She sipped her beer. "Do you believe what Aria is saying?"

Emily considered for a moment. "I believe she believes it." She answered finally.

"Then I think you're doing the right thing by taking her seriously and supporting her. If there's something to find we can make some calls to the investigating officers. If not I think Aria will need to come to that realization on her own in her own time. Acceptance of a tragedy like this can't be forced on someone."

Emily smiled. "That sounds pretty sage to me." She leaned over to set her beer on the table then moved to take Paige's out of her hand and do the same before smiling shyly at her.

"Something on your mind, Emily?" Paige asked, returning her gaze expectantly.

Emily licked her lips, nervously but didn't look away. "Would you think me forward if I asked you to kiss me right now?" She asked.

Paige leaned forward, bracing her hands on the sofa. "Yes." She whispered as she brushed her lips against Emily's.

Emily sighed, her lips parting, inviting Paige to deepen the kiss, as her hands moved to lace behind Paige's neck and bring her closer.

Paige, hesitantly, slipped her tongue past Emily's lips tasting beer, spice and something distinctly Emily. Her arms trembled with excitement and the strain of her position but she refused to break the kiss. It was just too perfect.

Emily felt a tremor go through Paige and smiled into their kiss. She held Paige's neck and leaned slowly back against the sofa, bringing Paige with her, their bodies pressing together as they unwound their legs and Paige stretched out along her length.

Paige couldn't stifle the moan of pleasure as she felt Emily's warmth and curves beneath her. She pressed her lips against her mouth, her tongue diving in and out exploring and encouraging Emily to do the same.

Emily gasped as Paige's hand brushed up her hip and over her breast through her clothes before stroking the sensitive skin at her throat. She could feel her nipples harden in response and anticipation. Emily slid her hands down Paige's neck, over her strong shoulders and down to her waist. She slipped her fingers beneath Paige's shirt and grazed her nails across her lower back eliciting a gasp and groan of pleasure.

Emily's breath quickened and blood heated before she was jerked back to reality by the shrill sound of her pager. Her eyes flew open and her hands froze.

"Oh, fuck…" Paige growled as she pushed off of Emily and sat back against the sofa with a frustrated sigh. Her heart pounded, her belly tight with desire.

"I'm sorry." Emily sat up and looked around for her pager, snatching it off the table and checking the number. With a glance to Paige she rose to find her phone.

Paige sighed heavily and tilted her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes, willing her body to cool down. She shifted her hips, feeling the dampness between her legs. She cracked her eye when she heard Emily return. The look on her face of disappointment and regret told her everything she needed to know. "Fuck" She breathed.

Emily grinned apologetically. "I'm afraid not."

Paige couldn't help a laugh. "It's probably for the best, I think." She offered her cockiest smile. "I'm not that easy and I'd hate to have to fend you off."

"Oh, really?" Emily held out her hands to pull Paige up off the sofa. "I'll tell you what I think." She brushed a finger down the side of her face and trailed it lightly down her neck to the hollow at her throat. "I think you're going to go home and take a cold shower." She moved to brush their lips teasingly together with a small sigh. "And so am I before I have to be back in the department."

Paige leaned in to the kiss but Emily had already moved away. She eyed her with a half smile. "Get out of here before I embarrass myself."

Paige sighed heavily with a pout. "See you tomorrow?"

"Count on it."

* * *

><p><strong>Really pleased to see so many people enjoying this story. Thanks so much for reviewing. Feeling the love. Enjoy!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

"So by your third date you're dry humping on the sofa?" Hanna asked, aghast. "Moving kind of fast aren't you?"

"Must you be so childish?" Paige snorted as she sewed up Thursday mornings case, a 57 year old man seen swerving on the road. He managed to pull over and witnesses called an ambulance. He was dead on arrival. There was no bet this morning as both she and Hanna guessed massive myocardial infarction. It had been even worse as there was complete ventricular wall rupture. He hadn't had a chance. "And besides." Paige added grinning foolishly beneath her mask. "There was nothing dry about it."

Hanna cracked up. "You're fucking disgusting!"

"I thought you liked to hear the sordid details." Paige teased.

"I do. So, by all means, carry on." Hanna checked her watch. "Oh shit!" She exclaimed as she ripped off her gown and gloves, stuffing them into the biohazard bin. "I'm so late!" She grabbed her bag off the counter, not bothering to change. "Are you all set?" She took the time to ask.

"I'm fine, go." Paige laughed at her. "Will we see you tonight at Spencer's lab?" She called as Hanna ran out the back door.

"Yes!"

Paige wheeled the man into the cooler and pushed him up against the wall. He was the lone occupant now as the funeral home had been by first thing in the morning to collect Mike Montgomery's body. At least she wouldn't get anymore grief from Wilden over that.

Paige made her way into the locker room thinking about heading to the cafeteria for lunch after she changed into fresh scrubs. She opened her locker and stared down at the gym bag which had been sitting, untouched, since she had brought it in Monday. She was pretty strict about a three day a week routine but, since meeting Emily and everything else that had happened she hadn't been once and it was already Thursday.

She grimaced and thought about what she'd been eating this week, too. She really needed to get in a workout. It would probably take the edge off some of her other frustrations as well. She checked her watch. It wasn't quite noon. She could take the time to use the hospital workout room as she knew she wouldn't be getting to the gym again tonight.

Instead of fresh scrubs she pulled on black compression shorts, tight racerback tank top and her sneakers. She grabbed the earbuds, phone, ID badge and headed for the sub basement picking up a clean towel on the way, as the gym, or what passed for it here, didn't even rate as high as the morgue.

She flicked on the lights to the cramped, dank room. No windows, no mirrors, no amenities of any kind She hated it here and hardly ever used this room even though it was free. It was run down and little used with a single treadmill, stairmaster and rowing machine along with a rack of free weights and a weight bench.

She didn't have a lot of time as she needed to get this mornings report to Wilden by the end of the day, find Emily and get to Spencer's to see the results of her analysis. She opted for the rowing machine. It would give her the best total body workout in the time she had.

She dropped her towel and badge on the floor and settled herself into the seat. She played with the settings and selected a 40 minute pre programmed workout. She popped in her earbuds just as her phone chimed to signal a text from Emily.

**Lunch?**

**In dungeon working off unhealthy food choices ;)**

**Later then?**

**Yes**

Emily dropped her phone into her lab coat and went back to the chart she was working on. She hadn't seen Paige all morning and had been clock watching thinking they would be able to have lunch together. She wondered, idly, if she was moving too fast. They hadn't talked about anything. Were they even exclusive? Did Paige even want to be? Were they going to label themselves?

She shook her head realizing she had read the same line over and over again and tried to focus on what she was doing.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Alison purred as she perched on the desk next to her.

Emily sat up startled. "Alison, hi."

Alison studied her. "You looked a million miles away. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Emily waved her off. "Just this case." She lied.

"Have you had a chance to pick a time for us to go out?" Alison asked hopefully.

Emily cringed, inwardly. She hadn't and hadn't wanted to. Now more than ever. "I'm sorry, I've been run ragged here."

Alison's face fell, briefly, before her flirty smile returned. "Well, don't take too long. A woman like me won't wait around forever." She rose to leave.

"Oh, Alison?" Emily called.

She turned around, hopefully. "Hmmm?"

"Is there a gym or something in the hospital?" Emily asked innocently.

Alison frowned. "Subasement."

Emily smiled warmly. "Thanks."

Emily was worried she had take another wrong turn as she wended her way through narrow, cinder block corridors in the bowels of the hospital. She passed laundry and central sterile, again, this time turning left instead of right. If possible, it seemed the hall narrowed further but she heard the familiar whir of a gym machine.

She stepped into the brightly lit room to see Paige on the rowing machine, facing the far wall, and pulling hard against the resistance of the flywheel. Emily watched the muscles of her back and shoulders roll and strain against the weight, her calves and thighs jumping and bunching with each stroke.

Sweat beaded on her skin and rolled down her face, dripping onto the mat beneath her as loose tendrils of her hair clung damply to her neck. Emily stared openly. Paige couldn't see her. Or hear her as she had music on. Emily could see her lips moving as she sung along with something but was breathing too hard to actually sing out loud.

The machine beeped and whirred, apparently upping the resistance as Paige slowed briefly.

"Fuck you." She snarled and pulled mightily at the handle to return to her previous pace.

Emily was transfixed. She longed to feel those muscles tense under her hand. She wanted the strength of Paige beneath her, on top of her. Emily wondered what it would feel like to have those arms pin her to the bed and feel Paige's hand inside her, forearms coiling, strong hands stroking her.

Her thoughts took on a life of their own and Emily was shocked as her body began to respond to her own fantasy. She felt a trembling in her core and her breath hitched as she watched Paige continue to strain against the machine. She was beautiful and sexy as hell.

The machine beeped again and slowed. Paige returned the handle to it's cradle and draped her hands over her knees as she gulped deep lungfuls of air and rolled her shoulders and neck around.

She swung her legs off the foot stretcher and rose. Her eyes darted to the figure standing in the doorway. "Hi." She said surprised. Her brow furrowed as Emily openly appraised her. Paige looked down at herself. "What?" She looked back to Emily askance.

"You know what." Emily said huskily.

Paige breathed a laugh and picked up her towel, mopping her face and neck before running it down her arms. "Not too subtle are you?" She said with a cocky grin.

"Waste of time." Emily answered and continued to rake Paige's body with her eyes, her chest heaving and sweat pooling in the hollow of her throat. Emily had a nearly overwhelming desire to know if she could make her sweat and breathe like that

"You know." Paige draped the towel across her shoulders. "I came down here to work off some extra energy. If you keep looking at me like that I'm going to have to start over."

Emily leaned against the door frame and smiled. "I can wait." She challenged.

Paige's mouth quirked. "Well, you're going to have to."

* * *

><p>"So, the trauma pattern tells a pretty clear story." Spencer held up the reconstructed left leg bones. "The initial impact was here at the lateral aspect." She indicated where the bones bowed in. "And the stress caused the fractures out the medial aspect and, I assume, through the skin." She reached for the right leg. "The right leg shows a similar pattern but the impact to it is less, the bowing less significant indicating the force had diminished." She laid the two sets of bones right next to each other. "Whatever happened the two legs were right next to each other, the left leg taking the initial impact with the force of the blow being transferred then to the right leg. If I had to guess I'd say the person was standing, legs together, when the accident happened. It would account for the identical pattern."<p>

Hanna, Emily and Paige looked at each other. "What if we told you the person was driving and struck on the driver's side?" Hanna asked.

Spencer considered the bones. "Okay…" She mused. "That would explain the left side for sure." She eyed the bones again. "He would have had to have been sitting with his legs pressed up against each other and straight out."

Emily frowned. Spencer confirmed what they had already hypothesized. It still made little sense but could it be explained some other way? Did it mean anything at all?

Paige watched her considering the information. "What are you thinking, Emily?"

Emily sighed. "I don't know. I mean is this even suspicious? I certainly don't think it's anything the police are going to get excited about."

"True." Spencer agreed. "Their not likely to even raise an eyebrow. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help."

"No, Spencer." Paige said. "What you did is great. We really appreciate your time."

Spencer gave her a small smile. "You're welcome."

"What now?" Hanna asked with a sense of deja vu.

Emily blew out a breath and raked her hands through her hair. "I'm going to talk to Aria."

Paige eyed her. "You want some company?"

"You don't have to. You've both done enough." Emily answered.

"I'd like to be there for you." Paige said shyly.

"Thank you." Emily smiled softly, touched by Paige's generosity. She didn't really want to go alone. "You're driving." She added.

* * *

><p>"Aria, please sit down." Emily encouraged.<p>

Aria continued to pace in front of them as Paige and Emily sat together on the sofa. "I don't understand." Her hands twisted together, anxiously as she stalked back and forth across the apartment. "I thought you said you found something?"

Emily swallowed, nervously. She didn't know how to explain this or help her friend. "Well, we did, sort of. But it's not conclusive of anything and could be explained-"

"Well, explain it to me then!" Aria said sharply and stopped in front of them.

Emily looked to Paige, helplessly, grateful beyond words she had asked to come.

Paige took a breath. "There were some odd trauma patterns on his legs from the accident that would suggest he was in an...I don't know...awkward position if he were actually driving." She cringed, inwardly, at her weak explanation and hurried on. "Do you know if he braked at all before he was struck? Did the police tell you anything?"

Aria stared at her. "They said he didn't. There were no skid marks and he must have been really drunk to not see or hear the ambulance." She shuddered. "I think somehow they thought that might make me feel better."

"Aria." Emily paused trying to collect her thoughts. "I think it's time you let this go. This was an accident. A really tragic, unfair, meaningless accident."

Aria turned eyes, bright with tears, to her. She dropped into the chair and dropped her head into her hands, her shoulders heaving with quiet sobs. "I can't." She breathed. "I know in my heart something isn't right."

Paige shifted, uncomfortably and licked her lips, thinking carefully about what she was going to say. "Aria, is there some other reason you think this might not be what it seems? If it wasn't an accident what was it? Was your brother in some kind of trouble? I don't know, gambling or something?" She could feel Emily glaring at her. Emily was trying to diffuse the situation and Paige had just thrown gas on the flames.

Aria looked up with a tear streaked face. "Gambling? No, nothing like that. I can't imagine who would want to hurt him."

Emily shook her head. The damage was done so they might as well see it through. "Had he been acting strange lately? Was there something bothering him?"

Aria looked away for a moment and wiped at her face. "I don't know." She breathed. "I don't think so but I hadn't seem him on over a week."

"Was that unusual?" Emily asked, interested.

"We usually had dinner once a week." Aria said. "On Thursday nights. This last Thursday he called to cancel. He said there was something going on at work."

Paige looked to Emily who was nodding, apparently appeased. She wanted to know more. "What did he do for work?"

"He was an auditor for Rosewood Medical Insurance." Aria said. "Completely mindless and uninteresting if you ask me."

Paige chewed her lip. They had pretty much exhausted anything she could think of to ask. Except one thing. "If something was going on in his life is there someone else he may have told? Was he seeing anyone?"

Aria's eyes brightened. "He, was actually." She said and straightened. "It was new, I think. He didn't talk about her much but I could tell he was happy with the way things were going. He met her here in the complex, I believe." She looked away and scrunched her eyes closed and shook her head. "What was her name...Maura...Mina...Maya or something. Something foreign sounding." She finished finally.

Paige stiffened, her eyes going wide. "Mona?" She blurted. "Mona Vanderwaal?"

"Yes!" Aria answered, excitedly. "That's her."

Emily looked at Paige, surprised. "You know her?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Paige, you don't have to do this." Emily insisted as they walked to her car. Paige had explained, awkwardly, that Mona was Shana, her ex-girlfriend's, best friend and that she knew her quite well though they hadn't seen each other since she and Shana had broken up. "It's silly."

Paige leaned her back against the car and pulled her phone from her back pocket. 'We're already here. Let me just send her a text." She mumbled as her thumbs worked the keyboard. She hit send and set the phone on the roof of the car. "Anyway." She sighed and jammed her hands in her pockets. "I'm the one who opened my stupid mouth when you were trying to talk Aria off the ledge." She dipped her head and flicked her eyes up to Emily. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

Emily laughed softly and moved toward her, slipping her hands through her arms and around her waist. She leaned into her, resting her head in the crook of her neck and shoulder and breathed her in. "It's okay." She smiled. "I know you're only trying to help."

Paige's eyes widened in surprise as Emily, so unselfconsciously, held her. She slid her arms from her pockets and wrapped them around Emily's back, loving the feel of her body. She sighed into her hair. "God, you feel good." She murmurred.

Emily hummed softly into her neck, marvelling at how well they fit together. She couldn't believe they had known each other less than a week and felt the delicious stirrings of arousal being this close to Paige elicited.

Paige was thinking the same thing. "Would it totally creep you out if I told you I felt like I'd known you forever?" She asked hesitantly.

Emily laughed softly and tightened her hold around Paige's waist. "Not even remotely." She lifted her head and kissed along Paige's jaw and behind her ear.

Paige turned her head, her lips finding Emily's for only the briefest moment before her cell chirped a text alert. She sighed, heavily. "Fuck." She grumbled and twisted around to pick up her phone, swiping it on and glancing at the text with a raised brow.

"Well?" Emily asked, moving away but not releasing her hold on her completely.

Paige held the phone so she could see. **I'm home.**

Emily looked at her. "Is that an invitation?"

Paige shrugged. "Only one way to find out." She moved and held out her hand. "Come on. It's this way."

* * *

><p>The door opened a few moments after Paige's knock. A tall, stunning, dark skinned woman stood at the threshold, one arm still on the door. From the way Paige tensed next to her and the unpleasant smile the other woman greeted them with Emily knew it was Shana.<p>

"What are you doing here, Paige?" She asked unkindly.

Paige straightened and unclenched her hands. She wondered if perhaps Shana would be here but still seeing her was a surprise and not a good one. "I texted Mona and asked to come over and speak with her."

Shana's eyes flicked to Emily and made a dramatic sweep up and down her body in the cliched manner of a jealous ex before she returned her eyes to Paige "She doesn't want to see anyone. There's been an accident and she's lost someone she cared about."

Emily held her gaze and kept her face as expressionlessly pleasant as she could manage under the woman's obvious challenge. She didn't want trouble and, suspected, Paige could take of herself.

"I know." Paige replied. "I'm sorry." She turned to Emily. "This is Emily Fields. She was a childhood friend of Mike Montgomery and is good friends with his sister."

Emily took that as her cue. "It's nice to meet you, Shana." She said and extended her hand. Shana, seemingly surprised by the gesture had no choice but to shake it. "We don't mean to intrude but Aria, Mike's sister, is really struggling with what's happened. She mentioned Mike and Mona were seeing each other and we thought if we could speak to Mona for a few minutes we might be able to help Aria come to terms with what happened." Emily explained smoothly, her face and posture relaxed and nonthreatening.

"It's okay, Shana." A voice called from inside. "Let them in."

Shana's eyes flicked between them and Emily thought, for a moment, she was going to slam the door on them. Instead, she jerked the door open with the hand still on it and moved out of the way, barely, to let them inside.

Emily walked back to the living room, the layout the same as Aria's place to find a woman, with long dark hair and sad eyes curled up on the sofa clutching a mug of something steaming. Paige came to stand next to her.

"Hey, Mona, how are you?" Paige asked softly.

Mona shrugged. "Been better, Paige."

Paige could only nod, her eyes flicking to Shana as she moved around them to sit near Mona, protectively. The fire in her eyes daring Paige to upset her friend and give her an excuse to throw them out. They weren't invited to sit and neither of them made a move to do so.

Emily took a step forward. "I'm Emily." She began. "Aria Montgomery's friend. I'm very sorry for your loss." She offered.

Mona offered a half smile. "You, too." She said and cocked her head eyeing Emily. "Mike mentioned you before."

"Oh?" Emily smiled. "What did he say?" Grateful to have something to break the ice.

Mona thought for a moment. "I believe his exact words were 'my sister's really excited her smokin' hot friend Emily is moving back to town'"

Emily laughed. "That sounds like him."

"Aria said things were going well between you?" Paige said stupidly trying to be kind. Shana sucked in a breath and shot Paige a withering glare.

Mona tensed, struggling to maintain her composure. "They were." She choked out.

"Fucking nice, Paige." Shana moved to place a comforting arm around her friend. "I suggest you say what you need to say and get out." She spat at them.

Emily gripped Paige's hand in an effort to indicate she would handle it. The hostility between her and Shana was not going to get them the information they wanted. "Mona, Aria told us something might have been going on with Mike at his job. Do you know anything about that?"

Mona shrugged. "We didn't talk about work much but he had been staying late some lately and when I asked him about it he just sort of shut down so I quit asking."

"How long had that been going on?" Emily prodded.

"Couple of weeks, I guess." Mona replied.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Emily asked gently.

Mona's face crumpled. "The night he died." She managed as tears began to fall. "He was here for dinner then we...we…" She couldn't finish but they knew what she meant. "...I thought he was staying but he got up and left at some ridiculous hour. He said he had to go out."

"Where?" Paige blurted.

"I don't know." Mona shook her head. "He didn't say. I assumed the bar where..." She trailed off.

"Was he meeting someone?" Paige pressed.

"She said she doesn't know, Paige." Shana snapped. "Back the hell off!"

"Look, Mona." Emily tried to redirect. "We don't want to upset you. This is a difficult time for everyone." She waited a moment until Mona collected herself a bit and met her eyes. "Mike's sister thinks there may be something more to his death then just an accident. Is there anything you can tell us that you think may be important? Did Mike drink with you? Aria said he didn't drink. Is she wrong?"

"No." Mona agreed. "He'd sometimes have a glass of wine with dinner if I was but other than that no. I never saw him drink. And that place he was where they found him. I never knew him to go there or even mention it."

"He must have said something?" Paige interrupted again, tension and frustration getting the better of her.

"Paige." Shana growled a warning.

Mona glared at Paige, darkly before she straightened, her eyes brightening. "He did leave something here."

Paige opened her mouth to speak and Emily shot her a warning look. "May we see it?" She asked gently.

Mona shrugged and unfolded herself from the sofa. "I found it on the nightstand the other night. I have no idea what it is or why he had it." She padded on barefeet to the bedroom and returned a moment later with a folded piece of printer paper. "I was going to throw it out but then I thought maybe it would be meaningful to his sister. I was going to give it to her but I just…" She trailed off and handed the paper to Emily.

Emily unfolded it and glanced at quickly with a frown. "May I keep this?" She asked. "To give to Aria." She added.

Mona shrugged and returned to her place on the sofa. "Whatever." She replied with a careless wave.

Emily knew they had been dismissed and slipped the paper into her pocket. "Thank you, Mona." She said quietly. "I'm really sorry about Mike."

"Yeah." Mona replied halfheartedly.

Emily turned Paige toward the door. "Let's go."

Emily and Paige let themselves out but Shana was right behind them, her face thunderous. "Don't come back here, Paige." She snarled from the doorway.

Emily reached for Paige's hand to keep her moving but she had already turned back.

"I'm really sorry about what's happened." Paige said, sincerely. She hoped Shana's hostility was coming from a place of hurt and fear for Mona. "Mona is lucky to have you, you're a good friend, Shana."

Shana's face went from surprised to bitter and resentful in the span of two seconds. Her eyes raked Emily again and her face twisted into a sneer as she glared at Paige. "A little out of your weight class aren't you, Paige?"

Paige's mouth gaped at the insult after she had made every effort to be compassionate and she failed to find words to respond.

"Oh, really?" Emily slipped her hand in Paige's and laced their fingers together as she pinned Shana with a look. She was no longer feeling charitable toward this woman. "And what does that say about you?" She said coolly.

Shana's face registered the barb before she slammed the door, shaking the light fixtures on the wall.

Emily let out a slow breath. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

><p>"Oh, God…" Paige groaned and dropped her forehead down to the steering wheel. "...that sucked."<p>

Emily shifted in her seat to turn toward her. "Are you alright?" She asked with concern.

Paige shook her head. "I feel like such an idiot."

Emily smiled. "You were fine, Paige." She pressed her lips together. "You ex is a total bitch, though."

Paige snorted a laugh. "You think?" She pushed herself up straight. "What was on that paper?"

Emily shook her head. "A list of names it looked like. I don't know and I don't want to think about it anymore tonight."

Paige started the car. "I'll take you home."

Emily turned to look at her, clearing her mind of everything but the woman in front of her. She found her nothing short of amazing, even when flawed, fumbling and vulnerable Emily was enraptured. She wanted her and propriety be damned. She didn't care how long they had known each other, she was done waiting. "Is your place closer?"

Paige turned to look at her as she backed out of the parking spot. "Yeah, why?" She yelped as she felt Emily's hand slide across her inner thigh and had to slam on the brakes before she backed into a tree. "Oh." She said a little breathlessly. "So, I'll drive you home later?"

Emily smiled and looked at Paige from beneath her lashes as she continued to run her hand teasingly along her leg. "I'm not going home tonight." She promised.

The charger's tires squealed and the engine roared as they shot out of the parking lot.


	10. Chapter 10

"Keys, keys, keys, keys." Paige chanted as she fumbled with the lock on her front door. Emily's hands slid around her waist from behind and crept under her t-shirt. Paige sucked in a sharp breath as her fingernails raked across her abdomen. "Seriously, you need to stop doing that if you want to get inside." Paige laughed breathlessly as she flipped to another key.

Emily didn't remove her hands but pressed her body into Paige's back and breathed into her ear. "I thought you weren't that easy. "

"I may have overestimated my ability to resist your wanton ways." She tilted her head and shivered as Emily trailed kisses down the back of her neck. The key slid into the lock. "Ha!" She flung the door open and turned, gripping Emily around the waist and pulling her inside, kicking the door closed behind them.

"My hero." Emily murmured as she crushed her mouth to Paige's, parting her lips with her tongue and forcing Paige farther back into the apartment. Paige backed up, nearly losing her balance in an effort to maintain their kiss, until she slammed up against a wall with a grunt. Emily's hands were everywhere, tangled into her hair, at the back of her neck, her shoulders, pulling at her shirt. Paige's lips seared with the heat of Emily's mouth on her and her skin heated and flushed with the touch of her hand. Her belly clenched with desire and sweet, sharp, pressure throbbed between her legs.

"Bedroom." Emily commanded as she let Paige away from the wall.

Paige turned down the hall, kicking out of her boots as she went. She glanced around the room and kicked some clothes on the floor out of the way. Her bed was unmade, as usual. She turned around as Emily came through the doorway. "The sheets are clean, I promise." She said sheepishly.

Emily closed the distance between them, eyes dark with arousal and pushed Paige squarely in the chest, toppling her onto the bed on her back. Emily moved with her in one fluid motion and straddled her hips. "Not for long." She said wickedly.

The rasp of her voice and intensity of Emily's eyes went straight to Paige's core. She shifted her hips under Emily as her need built to uncomfortable levels. "Emily, you're scaring me." She said with teasing smile. Paige never really considered herself a bottom but she was game for whatever and Emily was clearly in charge at the moment.

"Mmmm." Emily growled. "And so you should be." She slid her hands up under Paige's shirt. "Off." She commanded and Paige obediently raised her arms so Emily could strip the offending garment up over her head.

Emily sat back, her eyes bright, a slow smile playing at her lips as she took in Paige's upper body in nothing but a bra. Her arms and shoulders strong and lean, her abdominal muscles well defined and, right now, tight and trembling with anticipation, breasts small and perfect with nipples visibly hard through the thin fabric of her bra.

Emily raised Paige's arms and pushed them above her head, pressing them to the bed. "Don't move." She breathed as she ran her fingers down the underside of her arms, down her sides and across the tops of her breasts before tracing swirling patterns across her abdomen. "Your body is incredible"

Paige bit her lip against a groan and let her eyes slide closed as Emily slid her hands over her body. "Fuck, Emily, I want you…" She breathed and cracked her eyes to watch Emily as she caressed her skin.

Emily sat back and slowly unbuttoned her blouse, her eyes holding her gaze. Paige licked her lips as Emily revealed herself one button at a time. Her breasts full and straining against a lacey bra. She pulled off her blouse, letting it fall to the floor. "Patience." She whispered.

Emily's words were doing as much to arouse her as her hands and Paige arched at the thought of Emily taking her time, wanting it and dreading it in equal measure.

Paige smiled and lifted her hips as Emily moved to strip her jeans off leaving her in boy shorts and bra.

Emily slid her hand down between Paige's legs, pressing against her, feeling the warmth and wetness of her through the thin fabric. Paige groaned and dropped back onto the bed, twisting under her, her legs clenching against the sensation. Emily smiled, knowing she was driving her wild. "Lay back." She directed and pressed her down, her other hand flat against her abdomen. Paige squirmed again under her hand as she eased and increased the pressure against her slowly.

"Fuck…" Paige said on a strangled breath.

Paige's hips thrust into Emily's hand, searching for more friction and the release she desperately craved but Emily would only ease away each time.

"That's good." Emily purred as she watched Paige carefully. She moved her hand away and Paige sighed at the loss.

Paige raised her arms bringing her hands up to cup Emily's breasts, reverently, smoothing her thumbs across her nipples and watching them harden beneath the lace. Paige let out a shaky breath. "Jesus, you're beautiful." She felt a wave of wetness coat her legs at the sight of her, her ache nearly intolerable.

Emily threw her head back and arched into Paige's hands with a sigh of pleasure as Paige kneaded her breasts. Emily reached behind her, unsnapping the clasp with one hand and slipped out her bra, discarding it on the floor allowing Paige unfettered access to her skin.

Paige's breath came hard and fast at the sight of Emily over her, her naked breasts smooth and warm, filling her hands, her hips rocking into her her. "Take off your pants." Paige whispered.

Emily smiled and raised up on her knees and unfastened her pants, slipping them down and shimmying out of them one leg at a time. She settled back onto Paige, their centers separated only by the panties they each still wore. She reached to unclasp Paige's bra, slipping the straps over her arms and adding it to the growing pile of clothes on the floor.

Paige groaned loudly, her body tensing, as Emily took a nipple into her mouth, rolling it around on her tongue before sucking it between her teeth, hard, while kneading her other breast with her hand. She stretched out on Paige, letting her weight settle on her and making sure her breasts were pressed against her firmly.

Paige gasped, near to exploding with need. "Emily, please!" She cried. "Don't do this to me."

Emily smiled and lavished her other nipple with her tongue. "Do what?" She asked innocently.

Paige shuddered, her muscles contracting in her core. She could feel sweat trickling down her chest. "Make me beg." She panted.

Emily hummed and kissed her way down Paige's belly, dipping her tongue in and out of her navel on the way down. Paige's breathing was ragged and her skin slicking with sweat as she coiled and contracted beneath Emily's touch. It was better than the fantasy and Emily licked her lips of the salty sweet taste of Paige's skin.

She slid two fingers into the waist of Paige's panties and eased them down over her ass. Paige sucked in a breath in anticipation and parted her legs, inviting Emily to enter. "Tell me what you want, Paige." Emily whispered.

"You..." Paige swallowed heavily. "...inside me."

Emily trailed her fingers along the inside of her thigh and dipped the tips in the wetness between her legs wiggling her fingers around Paige's entrance. "Like this?" She teased.

"Oh, fuck, Emily, please." Paige's hips jerked against her hand and her hands moved from the bed to cover her face.

"I love the way you respond to me." Emily marvelled and parted her, slipping three fingers inside and entering her smoothly.

Paige's mouth dropped open in a silent scream as her body arched off the bed as Emily filled her. "Oh, fuck…" She gasped.

Emily moved in her, setting a slow, deliberate pace. She shifted up on her knees, wrapping her arms around Paige's waist to tilt her hips. Paige's hands tangled into the sheets by her sides, gripping tightly to anything she could find. Her eyes flashed open and held Emily's gaze as her breath came in short, sharp pants. "Em…" She choked out.

Emily thrust into her, feeling her walls contract around her hands, hard. She was strong and ready and Emily had made her wait long enough. She moved a thumb to circle her swollen center and watched as Paige cried out beautifully, her eyes rolling wildly.

Paige felt the world drop away as Emily plunged into her again and again. Her blood was on fire and the room spun. It was too much and when Emily pressed into her over sensitive nerves she lost her mind. Her orgasm roared through her, blotting out sight and sound as she was nothing but searing sensation as she came hard, gasping and crying out Emily's name, her whole body spasming in release.

Emily held her tightly as her orgasm released it's grip on her and Paige fell back against the bed. "Holy shit." She panted and gulped for air.

Emily dropped back down on top of her, smothering Paige's mouth with her own, working her lips around her and exploring her with her tongue. She couldn't get enough of her and groaned into the kiss.

Paige fumbled a weak arm across Emily's back and held her as tightly as her trembling limbs would allow as Emily ravished her mouth. She had never been dominated so completely and she loved every second of it.

Paige sucked in a breath as an aftershock twisted her insides and Emily laughed into her mouth. "Are you okay?" She pulled away to look at Paige with shining eyes.

"Uh huh." Paige breathed and tensed again as the last of her orgasm drained out of her. "Fuck me." She breathed, her head dropping back.

"Again?" Emily grinned, teasingly.

Paige smiled lazily. "Figure of speech." She sighed.

Emily relaxed into the the crook of Paige's arm and traced circles around her nipples with a finger. "God, I've wanted you from the first moment we met." She whispered.

Paige raised an eyebrow Emily couldn't see. "We met in the morgue."

"Okay." Emily laughed softly. "Maybe the second moment."

Paige could feel her strength returning slowly and with it her desire to explore every inch of this woman's body. She ran lazy fingers up and down Emily's back and felt Emily tense in response. "You surprise me Dr. Fields." She said casually.

"Oh?" Emily smiled into her skin. She loved the feel and smell of Paige. Sweat and desire filled the room.

"You sure know how to work the room." Paige joked.

Emily breathed a laugh. "You think I got where I am by being on bottom?" She asked playfully.

Paige laughed. "I suppose not." She conceded and, without warning, rolled Emily onto her back, pinning her arms above her head. "Maybe you could use the practice." She said wickedly.

Emily's eyes flashed and she struggled, testing Paige who gripped her wrists tight and held her while she straddled her, settling her weight across her hips. Emily was never so happy to be right. Emily was far from unfit but Paige was strong and held her easily and Emily felt a gush of wetness dampen her legs at being restrained by her.

Paige's mouth descended on her in a bruising kiss, parting her lips, her tongue plunging into her mouth. Emily groaned against the onslaught, her toes curling and hands clenching into fists as her body responded achingly.

Paige smiled and pulled away, raking her eyes over Emily's body, her heaving breasts and sweat slicked skin. She thought she had never seen anything so beautiful and so arousing as Emily Fields lying near naked beneath her.

"Tell me what you want, Emily." Paige growled Emily's words.

Emily's mouth quirked into a smile, holding Paige's gaze. "I want you to make me scream your name."

Paige pursed her lips, her eyes flashing wickedly. "It will be my pleasure." She brought her mouth down within a breath of Emily and froze.

Emily raised her head to meet her lips but Paige stayed just out of reach maintaining her grip and weight on her and letting her struggle. Paige could feel her desire stir again as Emily writhed beneath her.

Paige dipped her head and attacked Emily's neck, nipping at her skin with lips and teeth. Emily sucked in a breath and tilted her head to give Paige better access to the sensitive skin. Emily's hips bucked under her and Paige could feel the wet heat of her her against her belly.

She shifted her grip, wrapping one strong hand around both Emily's slender wrists to hold her as she let her right hand travel slowly down Emily's body. Emily arched into her hand as she stroked over her breasts, first one then the other, the nipples hardening to points under the caress.

Emily groaned, heat and wetness pooling between her legs as Paige took over, owning her, making her body her own. It was delicious and frightening and Emily wanted it to stop and go on forever. She flexed her hands and Paige tightened down on her, letting her know her who was in control now.

Paige's hand slid between Emily's legs, her fingertips exploring her soaked panties. "Is this for me?" She asked throatily.

"Yes." Emily whispered and jerked as Paige's hand slipped inside her panties and dragged a finger through her slick heat. "Oh…" She breathed, straining for more.

Paige jerked Emily's panties down with one hand and Emily slipped her legs free, Paige discarding them onto the floor. She nudged Emily's legs open with her own and settled herself more comfortably spreading Emily's legs wide with her knees between her thighs and holding her there.

Emily gasped, open and vulnerable, and struggled anew as Paige settled her weight until she stilled. "Easy." Paige soothed, her right hand sliding down to cup Emily's center, the heat of her nearly burning her palm.

Emily's breathing was ragged and her heart hammered in her chest. "Oh, God, Paige do it." She rasped as Paige's hand hovered and teased against her.

"Not yet." Paige rumbled and circled Emily's clit with her thumb as her mouth descended on her breast, her teeth raking her nipple.

Emily bucked and let out a strangled cry and still Paige held her as she tormented first one breast then the other with her mouth while teasing around her opening with a thumb and finger, alternately pinching and stroking her.

Emily went senseless, her eyes rolling back, with wave after wave of pleasure and pain as Paige tormented her. "Paige, please…" She begged.

Paige reared back as her right hand parted her and plunged deep into her with one smooth stroke and pinned her there.

Emily jerked and froze at the sensation of Paige's weight against her, her hand, unmoving, filling her. Her hips rocked against Paige but still she held still, watching the desperation cloud Emily's eyes.

"Oh, God…" Emily panted. She was coming undone. "Oh, God…"

Paige began to move, her eyes never leaving Emily as her head rolled back and forth wildly. Just a flick of her fingers at first then long smooth strokes followed by short rapid ones then endless combinations.

Emily's hips rocked into Paige's hand, trying to anticipate her next stroke and find the rhythm that would lead to her release. "I can't breathe…" She gasped, her arousal so hot she thought she was on fire. "I can't…"

"Come for me, Emily." Paige growled and changed up her strokes releasing Emily's hands as she matched her thrusts. The bed creaked and sweat rolled down Paige's back and chest and she pumped in and out of Emily, curling her fingers against her wall each time.

"Oh, God, Paige." Emily sobbed as her climax built. She bucked off the bed and Paige got her arm around her back, holding her close and she drove her over the edge.

Emily's back arched violently in Paige's arms, her head dropping back to the bed as her whole body seized with her orgasm and she shuddered and tensed as bolts of lightning sensation sparked through her limbs.

Paige slid out of her when she stilled and gathered her close, holding her as she trembled and gasped for breath, her body limp and eyes closed to slits. "I've got you." Paige whispered, smoothing Emily's hair out of her face.

Emily's mouth quirked up. "Yes." She whispered. "You do."

Paige watched her eyes flutter closed and leaned to place a soft kiss on her slightly parted lips. "Oh, Emily." She breathed. "What have you done to me?"

* * *

><p><strong>Lots more to come (tee hee). More later today.<strong>

**To the guest reviewer who wants to know about Paige's car you didn't read the first chapter very carefully ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

Paige held Emily close and drifted off to sleep easily. She didn't know how long they'd been asleep when Emily sighed and turned in her arms.

Paige turned her face to her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Hey." She whispered.

Emily smiled languidly."Hey, yourself." She stretched and groaned as overexerted muscles protested.

"Are you alright?" Paige asked and ran a hand down her back.

Emily smiled. "Just out of practice, I guess."

"Well." Paige dropped back against the bed and folded her arms behind her head with a smug look. "Stick with me and we'll have you whipped into shape in no time."

Emily laughed. "You're such an idiot." She teased and rolled over onto her back to stare at the ceiling. "What time is it?"

"Uh…" Paige turned toward the clock, the only light in the room. "1:37."

"Mmmm" Emily sighed and sat up, swinging her legs over the side. She scanned the floor, picking up Paige's t-shirt and dragging it on.

Paige sat up. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom." Emily stumbled to the door in the dark before Paige clicked on a the bedside lamp. "Then kitchen. I'm starving."

"Ahh."Paige grimaced. "I don't have much."

"I'll manage." Emily called over her shoulder as she disappeared out the door in such a way it was impossible for Paige not to notice her shirt barely covered her.

Paige could hear Emily in the kitchen, cabinets opening and closing, a plate coming down, the refrigerator. Paige took the the opportunity to straighten the bedding before propping herself up against the headboard, the covers draped across her lap, to wait.

Emily returned a few minutes later with two bottles of water and a plate with bagel and cream cheese and sliced apple. She set it on the bed between them and crawled in beside Paige, mirroring her position, before picking up her half of the bagel.

Paige ate her half in several large bites. licking cream cheese from her fingers, tasting it and Emily. She didn't realize how hungry she was. "We should have gone to your place." She mumbled around her mouthful.

Emily raised her eyes in question around her own mouthful.

Paige finally swallowed. "We could be feasting on all that leftover chinese right now."

"Mmmm." Emily nodded. "Except I sleep on a futon mattress on the floor."

"I thought your place came furnished?" She crunched an apple.

"It did." Emily's eyes sparkled. "With a king sized waterbed."

Paige eyes widened for a moment before she cracked up. "What did you do with it?"

Emily shrugged and kept eating. "The bedroom is huge. I just pushed it out of the way. It's too big to move."

Paige's eyes lit with humor and excitement. "We're so trying it." She declared.

Emily laughed. "I promise you, that's not going to work out as well as you think."

Paige eyed her. "You've tried it?"

Emily shook her head. "Only to sleep on and it's awful."

"Well." Paige went on. "I promise you we won't be sleeping. And, anyway, it's on my bucket list."

Emily laughed again. "You're so full of shit."

Paige gasped. "Language, Dr. Fields!" She placed a hand over her mouth in mock horror. "Anyway, you don't know."

Emily moved the plate onto the bedside table and stripped off the t-shirt so they were both naked again before sliding over and curling into Paige. "You're right." She sighed and snuggled into her. "So, why don't you tell me?"

Paige wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close, breathing in the scent of her and letting the warmth of her naked skin heat her body. "Well, you already know nasty sex with a beautiful lady doctor on a waterbed tops my list."

Emily snorted. "Does it have to be nasty?"

Paige paused to consider. "I'm willing to consider alternatives."

"I'll keep that in mind." Emily smiled. "What else?"

"Okay." Paige took a breath. "This is actually easy to answer, well, in theory, but it could have you running for the hills. I'm committed in my heart to making happen, soon too, so better you just find out now" She began, playfully.

"Karaoke world tour?" Emily teased.

"Um, no, but that's actually a thing so don't make fun." Paige gave her a squeeze. "And stop interrupting."

Emily laughed. "Okay, sorry."

"I want to travel cross country by car making all the quirky stops and camping out or cheap hotels and biker bars and pick up hitchhikers, non serial killer ones, and hear their stories and take the backroads through small towns and all that." Paige spilled out.

Emily smiled. "That's perfectly normal and respectable and not all that uncommon. Why would you think that would scare me off?"

"What did I say about interrupting?" Paige gave Emily's shoulder a shake. "I'm not done." She took a breath. "All timed perfectly to end at Comic-Con." She finished.

Emily laughed. "Really? Which one?"

Paige sucked in a breath. "_The_ one. San Diego. What other one is there, really?"

Emily tucked her head into Paige's side and laughed into her. "Cosplay?" She laughed harder. "I like it. Who are going to go as?" She picked up her head needing to look at her now.

Paige's eyes flashed, excitedly. "Maria Hill."

Emily frowned. "Who?"

"Commander Maria Hill." Paige blew out a frustrated sigh. "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Second in command to Nick Fury?"

"Oh, right." Emily remembered her now. "Why her? She's kind of-"

Paige moved lightning fast and rolled Emily on top of her, wrapping her arms around her back and squeezing hard. "Be very careful how you finish that sentence, Doctor." She warned playfully.

"...she's totally badass." Emily gasped and Paige loosened her grip with a smile. "And hot and, obviously underrated." She finished with a smile and settled onto Paige more comfortably, crossing her arms over Paige's chest and resting her chin so she could look at her.

"That's better." Paige nodded, satisfied and wriggled under Emily loving the feel of her weight.

"So, why haven't you done it?"

Paige traced mindless patterns with her fingers over Emily's back. "Time, money and…" She blew out a breath. "...the right person to go with."

"What? Shana wasn't up for it?" Emily asked and winced as soon as she said it.

Paige froze, her eyes narrowing. "You did not just invoke the name of my douche bag ex during post coital cuddling." She ground out though there was laughter in her eyes.

"Sorry." Emily blurted. "I'm sorry." And kissed across Paige's chest in apology.

Paige sighed at the feel of her lips on her skin and resumed stroking Emily's back. "Forgiven."

Emily raised her head again. "But you can't say post coital." She laughed. "It sounds so clinical."

"What would you rather?" Paige laughed with her. "Pillow talk?"

Emily sighed. "Fine. Whatever." She conceded. "I'm sure the right person to go with you will come along soon." She added with a smile.

"Perhaps." Paige grinned at her. "So, what's on your list?"

Emily dropped her head and turned to the side, relaxing into Paige's touch. "Travel mostly. Machu Picchu, Safari in Africa, Mexico." She offered.

"I went to Mexico during Spring Break once. Rosarito Beach. There was this bar and outside in the parking lot they had this like 60 foot scaffolding contraption that you could bungee jump off of."

"Did you?" Emily asked.

"Hell, yes. For twenty bucks you got a bracelet for all you could drink and one free jump." She shook her head at the memory. "So, I got shit faced and took a swan dive off over a huge air mattress."

Emily barked a laugh. "That sounds like a ridiculously stupid thing to do."

"Yeah." Paige agreed. "In retrospect it wasn't one of my more shining moments. Plus, it hurt like hell."

Emily's head snapped up. "What hurt?" She asked alarmed. "Did you hit something?"

Paige laughed. "No. No. Nothing like that. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake the healer in you." She waited for Emily to relax again. "They wrap these straps tight around your ankles, which, you know, you want to be tight but still. And it wasn't very high so I kind of came to rapid stop and it just stretches you out really tight. I had these bruises around my legs and pulled muscles in my stomach for a few days."

"Like I said." Emily huffed. "Stupid."

"Yeah, well, it's a good story." Paige defended.

"If you say so." Emily laughed.

"So where in Mexico?" Paige got the conversation back on track. "I don't really peg you for the all inclusive resort type."

'Thank you for saying that." Emily smiled. "The Yucatan. I want to tour the Mayan ruins. Chichen Itza, Tulum, Uxmal and some others."

"That's cool." Paige approved. "I hear you can't climb them anymore, though."

"Most of them, that's true." Emily agreed. "They want to preserve them and I think some tourists have fallen and died. That's bad for business. But you can climb the pyramid in Coba still."

"Do you speak Spanish?" She asked.

"Si. Hablo espanol muy bien." Emily replied proudly.

"That's hot." Paige said seriously.

"Tool of the trade." Emily explained. "Especially when working in a city. I took an intensive medical spanish course after med school." Emily turned. "Oh, my God is that the time?" She groaned.

Paige eyed the clock, 2:52 am. "Yes, I believe that is the time."

Emily rolled off Paige. "I've got to get some sleep."

"Really?" Paige pouted. "I thought maybe you were just waiting until you regained your strength."

Emily laughed and kissed her soundly on the mouth. She pulled away reluctantly with a sigh. "As lovely as that sounds I work very hard to ensure _my_ patients don't become _your_ patients and for that I need sleep."

Paige smiled. "That's fair." She turned off the light and kissed Emily gently. "Sleep well, Dr. Fields."

Emily settled back down by Paige's side. "Sleep well Commander Hill." She drifted off to sleep to the sound of Paige's soft laughter.

* * *

><p>Paige woke, two minutes before her alarm was set to go off, to the sound of the shower running. She smoothed her hand over the sheets. Still warm. Emily had not been up long. She sat up on the edge of the bed with designs on joining her when the water shut off. "Damn." She muttered to herself.<p>

Emily came out and crossed the hall to the bedroom on a billow of steam covered, barely, in a towel, her skin glistening and flushed from the heat. "Good Morning." She treated Paige to a dazzling smile. "I hope you don't mind." She gestured to the bathroom.

"Not at all." Paige grinned lopsidedly. "I wish you had waited for me, though."

Emily pursed her lips, eyes flashing. "It crossed my mind but I really need to get to work on time." She considered Paige for a moment. "I don't suppose you have any eyeliner or mascara do you?"

"Yup, just let me get my makeup bag." She made to rise.

"Really?" Emily asked surprised.

"Ah, no." Paige grinned and moved from the bedroom to the bathroom for her own shower. "You'll just have to go as your haggard self."

Emily frowned at her as she disappeared behind the door. "How about something appropriate to wear to work?" She yelled to her.

The water came on and Paige called over it. "Sure. There's clean jeans and a Death Star t-shirt in the bottom drawer."

Emily laughed. "I'm serious."

"So am I." Paige replied. "Oh, alright. Can you manage with scrubs? I have clean sets in the second drawer.

Emily didn't usually wear scrubs unless something happened to her clothes, like blood, vomit or feces, but many of the residents did. Her showing up in scrubs would raise far fewer eyebrows than showing up in Paige's clothes.

She rummaged in the drawer Paige indicated and pulled out a set of scrubs. The movement jarred an item loose and it rolled and thunked against the inside of the drawer. Emily dug for it and pulled it out. Her eyes bugged out and her hands flew to her mouth to cover a gasp then a laugh. She quickly pulled on the scrubs and sat on the bed clutching her treasure.

Paige opened the bathroom door a moment later, a towel wrapped only around her waist. "Does it work for you? She asked from the doorway and froze, her eyes going wide and face turning crimson.

"I don't know yet." Emily stood and cocked an eyebrow at Paige working very hard not to laugh as she waggled a thick, black, rubber dlido. "What's your experience?"

"Holy shit." Paige breathed. "That's, uh...that was a gift...um...from Hanna." She stammered.

"Uh huh." Emily said, skeptically, the corners of her mouth pulling into a gleeful smile.

"No, really." Paige insisted suddenly feeling very exposed when her intention had been to tease Emily with her nakedness. "She bought it to cheer me up after Shana."

"And did it?" Emily's eyes flicked over the dildo then back to Paige, raking her body. "Cheer you?"

Paige pressed her lips together and fought a smile of her own. "Well, it didn't hurt." She said, aware, too late, of the double meaning, her face flushing again.

Emily nodded slowly, biting her lip to keep her face straight. "Well, I can see I've unbalanced you again, which I find particularly amusing considering what we did to each other last night." She placed the dildo back in the drawer and closed it. "I'm going to file away the location of your...ahem...toy and we can revisit this conversation another time."

Paige stood, stricken and dripping water on the floor, as Emily moved to her and released the towel from around her waist, letting it drop to the floor before placing her hands on her hips and pressing her lips to Paige's with a sigh of pleasure.

Paige, still stunned by the exchange, didn't have time to react before Emily pulled away, trailing her hands across her stomach. "I'll make the coffee." She said and swept out of the room.


	12. Chapter 12

By the time Paige emerged, dressed in jeans and Death Star shirt, Emily was sitting at the small kitchen table sipping coffee and reading something. "What's that?" She asked as she poured herself a cup and leaned against the counter.

"It's the paper Mona gave us." She answered distractedly as she ran her finger down the page.

Paige moved to peer over her shoulder. "A list of names?"

"Yeah, twelve of them." Emily replied.

"What's that number next to them?" Paige asked, curiously. "A phone number?"

"Mmmm." Emily sipped her coffee. "I think it's a medical record number."

"Huh." Paige backed up to the counter again. "Makes sense considering what he did for work but I doubt very much he was supposed to be carrying around patient and client information."

"Yes." Emily sat back in the chair. "Maybe, if I get a chance later I'll pull up these names and take a look."

"Um, should you be doing that?" Paige asked concerned. Privacy violations could get someone fired in a hot second.

"No, of course not." Emily agreed. "But aren't you curious?"

"Yes." Paige admitted and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just be careful with it. I don't want you to get in trouble."

Emily folded the page and stuck it in her scrub pocket. She touched Paige's face and kissed her gently. "Don't worry." She smiled. "Let's go. I can't be late."

Paige poured their coffee into travel mugs and they headed to work.

Paige drove through the hospital complex and around to the main entrance to let Emily off.

"Hey, look." Emily peered past Paige into the parking lot. "There's Alison."

"Terrific." Paige drawled as she wended her way around parked cars and pedestrians. The parking lot and walkways were packed with people going to work.

"Who is she talking to?" Emily asked interested and craned her neck. "He's cute and it looks heated."

Paige risked a glance over to where Emily was looking and her mouth gaped. "Wilden!" She blurted as she stared at Alison gesturing wildly at him and shoving him in the chest. His face was red with anger.

"That's Dr. Wilden?" Emily exclaimed. "That's your boss? Wow!"

Paige frowned. "Jesus, they're perfect for each other the arrogant, narcissistic assho-"

"Paige!" Emily cried and threw her hand out to the dash.

Paige slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching stop inches before mowing over a handful of people in the crosswalk. A man slammed on the hood of her car and flipped her off angrily.

"Sorry!" She yelled through the windshield. "Don't hit the car." She muttered.

Emily gulped. "I'll just get out here." She opened the door and stepped out, leaning back in through the window as she closed it. "Will I see you later?" She asked expectantly.

Paige grimaced. "My parents are back today. They're expecting me for dinner tonight."

Emily pouted. "You'd rather have dinner with your parents than nasty sex with me?"

Paige's eyes bugged out. "I'll cancel." She blurted.

"I'm kidding." Emily laughed. "I think that's nice and anyway I seem to have become distracted of late and have fallen way behind in my reading. I'll call you later." Emily turned.

"So, no sex then?" Paige called after her and three people turned around to stare at her.

Emily turned with a scowl. "Be gone!" She waved her hand motioning Paige on and moved with the crowds through the main entrance.

Paige turned again to snoop across the parking lot and Alison and Wilden were both glaring in her direction. She accelerated and drove around back.

* * *

><p>Paige was singing along to Cyndi Lauper's <em>I Drove All Night<em> as she took stock inventory. It was Friday and there were no cases. She could finally get a proper inventory done, put in orders for supplies and finish up paperwork. She needed to remind herself to call the lab, too and check on Mike Montgomery's results. They should have been here by now.

"You totally got laid last night." Hanna sang.

"Jesus Christ!" Paige jumped and spun around, her armload of scalpel blades scattering across the floor. "How do you do that every fucking time?"

"Girls got skills." Hanna leaned against the autopsy table and crossed her arms. "So?"

Paige frowned and crouched to start picking up the individually wrapped blades. "What makes you think I got laid?" She asked being careful not to look at Hanna.

"I can smell it." Hanna replied and cocked an eyebrow.

Paige straightened and looked at her surprised before taking a whiff down her shirt. "Really?"

"Ew." Hanna made a face. "I don't mean literally. "I mean I have a nose for this sort of thing. Jesus, you're fucking dirty." She shook her head with a laugh. "But now I know I'm right."

Paige sighed. "Are you going to help me pick these up or not?" She bent to the floor again.

"Not until you spill." Hanna countered. "Without the sordid details. Well, maybe some of the details."

"Yes, Emily spent the night last night." Paige huffed defeated.

"And?" Hanna prodded.

Paige shrugged. "And we had sex." She stared at Hanna for a moment before breaking into a huge grin. "Totally hot, sweaty, mind blowing sex."

"I knew it!" Hanna clapped. "A woman as pulled together as that is bound to be a total wildcat in the sheets."

"Hmmm." Paige dumped the blades she had collected onto the counter and turned around, leaning against it, her face going serious. "I really like her, Han." She confessed.

Hanna smiled. "I can see that."

"I mean _really_ like her." Paige said again more pointedly.

"You haven't even know her a week." Hanna warned gently.

Paige winced. "I know. It's totally crazy and I can't explain it and I have no precedence for it and it scares the shit out of me but I can't stop thinking about her. And I don't mean just physically although, that's really fun to think about. I mean everything. She's the total package."

"And how does she feel?" Hanna asked.

Paige sighed. "I guess I don't know, really, but she seems to be into me…" She grinned. "...no pun intended."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Fucking dirty." She muttered. "Well, maybe you should ask her."

"Yeah, I don't know." Paige mused. "I don't want to ruin it by being weird and needy. I think I'll just see how it plays out."

"And you'll be okay with that?" Hanna eyed her. "You don't usually do so well in the amorphous relationship zone."

"Like you said." Paige shrugged. "It hasn't even been a week." Paige's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh, shit, I almost forgot. Emily totally found the dildo you gave me!"

Hanna's hands flew to her mouth."You're fucking kidding!"

Paige shook her head. "I'm not."

"What did she say?" Hanna's eyes sparkled with laughter.

"I don't know." Paige shrugged. "She just kind of asked me about it."

Hanna's eyes narrowed. "Asked you about it how? She thinks you're a creeping perv asked you about it or when can we play asked you about?"

Paige grinned. "More the latter, I think."

"No fucking way." Hanna laughed. "Wildcat."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Jules, it's Paige McCullers at Rosewood Memorial Autopsy." Paige identified herself when the woman answered to phone. "I need to check on some tox results. We should have had them by now."<p>

"_Sure."_ Came the reply. "_What's the name and number?_"

"Montgomery, spelled the usual way, Michael, RM-A-14-112." Paige answered from memory. She could hear typing on the other end.

"_Nope."_ The woman said after a moment. "_Nothing."_

"It's not done?" Paige asked surprised. "Are you guys super backed up or something?"

"_Nothing, as in we don't have a case by that name."_

Paige frowned. "No way. I boxed it up myself on Monday."

The woman sighed. "_Let me check one more thing." _More typing followed. "_Sorry, Hon, it's not here. Better check with your courier."_

Paige ran her hand through her hair. "Thanks, I'll call them." She hung up the phone. "Fuck."

It was already near 3:00 and she didn't want to get stuck late trying to sort this out. And she really needed those results. She picked up the phone again and dialed the courier dispatch office from memory.

"Dave, it's Paige at Rosewood autopsy, I have a problem." She started.

"_Don't we all_." He grumbled.

She ignored him. She didn't have time for his bad attitude. "I sent out sample in the drop box Monday afternoon for the lab in Philly. They never got there. Can you tell me who picked them up?"

"_Hold on." _She heard more typing. "_Monday was Ron's route. There's no record of a pick up from you, though."_

Paige frowned. "What does that mean?"

"_It means."_ Dave said snidely. "_That he didn't pick anything up from you."_

Paige spun in her chair and stared in the direction of the drop box as if she could somehow glean information that way. "I don't understand."

"_What's to understand?" _The man said, impatiently. "_He showed up, there was nothing to pick up, he left._" He paused a beat. "_Anything elses I can help you with?_" He didn't sound even remotely like he was interested in helping anyone with anything.

"No." Paige sighed. "No, wait! Yes. I'll box up another set. Can you send a stat courier right now?"

There was a long pause. "_It's Friday afternoon." _He said as if that was all the answer she needed.

Paige bristled. "I'm aware of that, Dave." Paige bit off. "And I need these samples to get to Philly before 5:00 so they can start getting processed. So, if you send someone right now, as in right the hell now they can pick them up and have them there in plenty of time." She was angry now.

"_Okay, okay._" The man replied and typed fast. "_The order is in. They need to be ready in 15 minutes or my guy is leaving._" He said sourly.

"They will be." Paige slammed the phone down and launched out of her chair not sparing a moment to think about what had happened to the first set of samples.

* * *

><p>Emily sat back in the chair and rubbed at her tired, grainy eyes. She looked out the window of the residents lounge and was surprised to see it was dark. She fumbled in her bag for her phone to check to the time. It was after nine. Her heart skipped a little beat when she realized she had missed three texts from Paige. She had been run off her feet all afternoon and hadn't had a chance to check her messages. She would call her when she got home.<p>

She pushed back from the desk and textbook she had been studying for hours and looked around the room. The usually bustling room now consisted of a first year resident rattling the vending machine in an attempt to dislodge a bag of chips hung up on the rack and another sleeping on the ratty sofa, an open chart draped over his face.

She moved to close the book, picking up a paper to mark her place. The paper in her hand was the list of names Mike Montgomery left at Mona's. She unfolded it, considering for a moment, before moving to a computer. She logged on and brought up the electronic records program.

She typed in the first medical record number, a 63 year old woman presenting in the ED with acute abdominal pain, suspected free air in the abdomen from ruptured diverticulum. She was admitted to the surgical ward for emergent colectomy. The second number was a 27 year old man with multiple fractures following a motorcycle accident, admitted to the trauma ward.

She ran down each name on the list. All ages all manner of illness or injury with no obvious connection. The only thing similar was they had all been admitted. She jotted a note by each case.

"What are you doing here, Emily." A voice said behind her.

Emily whirled, a hand going to her chest in alarm. "Oh, Alison!" She gasped. "You startled me."

Alison peered at her and cocked her head. "What are you working on so late?"

Emily turned back around, quickly closing out of the program. "Nothing." She said hurriedly. "Just getting in some studying."

Alison's eyes narrowed. "I see."

Emily glanced at her. "Was there something you needed?" It was not usual for nurses to come into the residents room. They had their own break room.

Alison smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "I saw Paige McCullers dropping you off this morning."

There was no question and Emily did not intend to discuss her relationship with Paige with anyone so she remained silent and began packing up her books in her messenger bag. She had managed, early in the afternoon, to get home for something to eat, change and collect some reading material.

"I advise you to be careful with whom and what you get involved." Alison said, her voice cool. "I like you, Emily, and I'd hate to see you get hurt."

Emily straightened and eyed her suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable. "I appreciate your concern, Alison, but it's really none of your business."

Alison's eyes flashed, angrily, for a moment, before she brightened and smiled. "Oh, don't mind me, Sweetie." She waved her hand. "I should really learn to keep my opinions to myself." She touched Emily on the arm. "Are you heading home? Your shift ended hours ago."

"Yes." Emily slung her bag over her shoulder and moved to the door.

"Okay, Sweetie." Alison purred. "Enjoy your weekend."

Emily hurried out the door and down the circular drive to head from home. She didn't know why her interaction with Alison had unsettled her so but the idea of heading home for a quiet night alone didn't seem so appealing anymore.

Her eyes scanned the parking lot and she spied a third year resident she was friendly with. "Hey, Jan!" She called and made her way over to her. "Could I beg a ride off you?"

* * *

><p><strong>I'm glad you have enjoyed the last few chapters. Thank you for the reviews. I love to hear from you.<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

Paige folded the last t-shirt and stacked it on the others in the hamper as she half watched her movie. She was disappointed she hadn't heard from Emily tonight but she was also grateful for the opportunity to miss her. She didn't want them to be one of those couples that were so hot early on they flamed out just as fast.

Her chores done, minus the actual putting way of the clean clothes which rarely happened. More often than not she lived out of a laundry hamper until she needed it again. She had stretched out onto the sofa, her beer resting on her chest, when a knock startled her up so fast she upended the bottle.

"Shit!" She breathed. She wiped beer from her shirt as she moved to the door. It was probably Hanna wanting to go out. She threw the door open, eyes going wide as Emily stood on her doorstep.

"Hi." Emily smiled shyly.

"Hi." Paige said surprised and glanced back over her shoulder into her apartment, the cheesy movie and basket of laundry mocking her. "What are you doing here?" She blurted.

Emily's face fell, her stomach dropping. "I'm sorry...am I interrupting?" A knot formed in her throat at the realization Paige might not be alone.

"What?" Paige realized her mistake at the look on Emily's face. "No. Of course not." She reached for her hand and pulled her inside. "What I meant to say was how did you get here?"

"Oh." Emily breathed in relief. "One of my colleagues gave me a lift."

Paige studied her. She was dressed in her own clothes, a bag over her shoulder and she looked exhausted. Paige opened her mouth to make a joke about an overnight bag but thought better of it. "Let me take that." She lifted the bag from Emily and it jerked her arm down. "What the hell is in this? Cinder blocks?"

Emily smiled. "Textbooks. I was catching up on some work."

Paige frowned. "Are you just leaving the hospital now?"

"Yes." Emily shrugged. "Residency, where the fun never ends."

"Jesus, I guess." She pulled Emily around and pointed to the sofa. "Sit." She commanded. "What can I get you? Have you even eaten?"

Emily breathed in deeply. "Um, yes, I ran home for lunch."

Paige blinked at her. "Emily, that was like 10 hours ago." She moved off into the kitchen and called back. "But you came to the right place. Awesome side effect of living near your parents and going for dinner is...leftovers!"

Emily collapsed back onto the sofa with a sigh and smile. She kicked her shoes off. She _had _come to the right place. She always prided herself in her independence, the idea of needing to be taken care of making her downright hostile. Somehow, though, hearing Paige in the kitchen making her a plate of food and chattering away to her warmed her heart.

"What would you like to drink?" Paige called as the food heated in the microwave.

"I'd love a beer, though it will probably put me to sleep." Emily answered, staring at the tv. "What on earth are you watching?"

"_Big Trouble in Little China_, circa 1986." Paige answered as she loaded a tray.

"Is that Kim Cattrall?" Emily asked surprised.

"Yup." Paige reemerged laden with food and beverages. "And Kurt Russell." She set the tray on the coffee table and handed Emily the plate and utensils. "Roast chicken, long grain wild rice, broccoli, and homemade oatmeal bread."

Emily's eyes went wide. "That looks fabulous, thank you." She set the plate in her lap and wasted no time getting to work on it.

Paige folded herself onto her lazy boy with an enormous piece of chocolate cake. Forking a bite into her mouth she smiled, her teeth covered in icing, at Emily's envious look. "Don't worry, there's some for you, too." She nodded to the other piece on the tray. "Eat your dinner first." She joked.

Emily ate, ravenously, quietly smiling to herself at how comfortable she felt in Paige's place, in her life, as she watched her wash down her cake with beer and laugh at her movie. She eyed the basket of folded laundry. "So, wild Friday night for you, huh?"

Paige looked over at her. "I got my clubbing done early, so…" She didn't miss a beat.

Emily chewed a bite carefully. "So, if you were to meet my parents what t-shirt would you wear?" She mocked.

Paige's eyes went wide in alarm. "You want me to meet your parents?"

Emily smiled gently. "Hypothetically."

Paige nodded, catching up with her teasing. She dragged the basket of clothes over toward her with a foot. "I actually have a parent meeting shirt." She thumbed through the stack and pulled out a butter yellow t-shirt and held it up.

Emily took it in at a glance. A bright cartoon rainbow with fluffy white clouds on either side. Beneath it the cheery lettering read _Rainbows Are Gay! _She cracked up. "You're hilarious!"

"What?" Paige feigned confusion. "Not what you had in mind?" She tossed the shirt back on the pile. "You know, should the need ever arise, I clean up okay."

Emily grinned. "I have no doubt."

Paige sat back and watched Emily trade out her dinner plate for the piece of chocolate cake and curl her feet under her. She took a bite, her eyes closing as she hummed her pleasure. Paige thought her pure, unrestrained enjoyment of something so simple was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"So, how was your day?" Paige asked. "I tried to get in touch with you a few times."

"Oh, I know." Emily swallowed her bite. "I'm sorry, I wasn't ignoring you we were just slammed."

"It's okay." Paige smiled. "I wasn't worried."

Emily's eyes widened. "I did get a chance to look up those names before I left."

"And?" Paige asked.

"Well, we were right and they were medical record numbers. They were all patients in the last three years. As far as I can tell, admittedly I didn't look to closely, they all came through the ED and were admitted but that's as much as they have in common. Maybe I'll look again when I have more time."

"Do you think there's something to find?" Paige asked seriously.

"I don't know." Emily shrugged. "But he had the information for a reason." Emily thought for a moment. "And then I had this sort of disturbing interaction with Alison DiLaurentis."

Paige snorted. "Is there any other kind?"

"I'm serious." Emily continued. "She saw us this morning and she made some creepy comment about being careful who I get involved with and not getting hurt."

Paige frowned. "You want me to talk to her?"

Emily huffed a laugh. "Thank you, that's sweet, but I can't imagine how that will help. She really does not like you."

"Yeah, no kidding." Paige agreed.

Emily chewed her lip and drifted away in thought. "I really wish I had something, one way or the other to tell Aria." She mused.

Paige winced. "Listen, there was this really big fuck up today." Emily raised a questioning eye. "I called to check on the tox results and the lab didn't have them. At all. No specimens from Mike Montgomery." Paige sighed. "So, I called the courier company and they had no record of a pick up on Monday which is when it should have gone out."

Emily frowned. "How could something like that happen?"

"I don't know. Either someone's lying or the specimens never went. I put them in the drop box which is locked so someone would have had to remove them." Paige explained.

"Why would someone do that?" Emily asked and felt her anxiety build.

"To fuck with me, maybe?" Paige suggested.

Emily chewed her lip. "Or if they didn't want those results to be known." She said quietly.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Each of them wondering if there was something to Aria's suspicion that there was more to her brother's death.

"What can we do?" Emily asked.

Paige smiled grimly. "Well, as it happens I always take two sets for the lab and store one in the freezer. I handed it to the courier today and followed up with the lab to make sure they received it. I also put a stat rush on it so we should have the results by mid week."

Emily was quiet again for a long time. "Do you think there's something we need to be worried about here? Should we go to the police?"

Paige shrugged. "And tell them what? A MVC victim with unusual trauma patterns and missing tox specimens that I'll probably get blamed for?"

Emily blew out a breath. "I should look at those cases again more closely."

Paige moved over to the sofa and sat next to Emily, slipping her arm around her waist and turning her head to face her so she could brush her lips across hers. "Not tonight." She whispered.

Emily moved her mouth over Paige's tasting beer and chocolate. "Mmmmm."

Paige pulled away slightly. "Are you staying?" She asked hopefully.

"If you don't mind." Emily moved her lips along Paige's jaw and behind her ear. "I really could use a shower."

"Amazing." Paige laughed softly. "That's just what I was thinking."

Paige started the water, holding her hand in the stream to check the temperature. She was nervous, again, as she heard Emily slip out of her clothes behind her. Paige's heart hammered in her chest, afraid to turn around.

Emily's hands slid around her waist from behind. "What's wrong?" She asked. "You're trembling."

Paige breathed a shaky laugh. "It's what you do to me." She admitted.

Emily spun her around and held her out at arms length. "Look at me." She waited for Paige to meet her eyes. "I mean, look at me." Emily said, the corner of her mouth turning up in a smile.

Paige sucked in a breath and let her eyes roam freely over Emily's naked body. She was truly breathtaking and, while Paige understood Emily was trying to get her to relax, she secretly hoped the giddy excitement she felt when she looked at her never went away.

"Off." Emily said again and lifted Paige shirt over her head. She wasn't wearing a bra and Emily ran her hand lightly down her chest and abdomen, smoothing against her skin. Paige stepped out of her jeans and panties and kicked them out of the way. She gripped Emily's hand and stepped into the shower, gently urging her to follow.

The water was hot and beat against Emily's back as she tipped her head back under the spray, wetting her hair and slicking it back off her face. Paige poured shampoo into her hand and massaged it into Emily's hair, gathering it into a pile on the top of her head. Emily held onto Paige's hips to steady herself, closing her eyes as Paige worked her fingers into her scalp.

"Tip your head back." Emily did and Paige rinsed the suds out of her hair. Emily could feel herself relaxing with every breath as the steam and heat swirled around her.

Paige reached for the body sponge and poured a generous amount of bath wash on it. "Turn around." She urged Emily to turn and waited for her to face the wall, her hands braced on the tiles, before running the sponge down her neck, across her shoulders and down over her hips and ass.

Emily sighed at the feel of the cascading hot water and Paige's hands on her, massaging and stroking the soap into her skin. Steam filled the room and the scent something floral and fresh.

Paige slid her arms around Emily's waist to reach her chest and slowly, carefully soaped her breasts and belly. She smiled and kissed the back of Emily's neck as she felt her tense and tremble against her. "You are so fucking gorgeous." She nipped the back of Emily's neck with her teeth.

Emily hissed out a breath and spun in Paige's arms, wrapping her arms around her, pressing their bodies together, lather slicking across them both. She crushed her mouth against Paige's, parting her lips with her tongue and devouring her with a groan of pleasure.

Paige gasped and dropped the sponge, holding Emily tight, her hands running up and down her back. "I want to taste you." She breathed and broke their kiss as she slid down Emily's body, kissing her the whole way and knelt in front of her.

Emily leaned back, one hand against the tile for support the other tangling into Paige's wet hair as she knelt in front of her. Emily trembled in anticipation as Paige's hand moved up and down her legs, tickling and teasing her inner thighs.

She replaced her hands with her mouth and gripped Emily's hips as she kissed her way up the inside of thigh. "Open for me." She commanded and urged Emily's legs apart. She breathed in the heady scent of her arousal before closing her mouth around her, parting her with her tongue. She was sweet and musky with heat and slippery wetness as Paige delved into her with her lips and tongue.

"Oh, Jesus." Emily breathed, moving her hands to Paige's shoulders to balance against the weakness in her legs and sensation overwhelmed her. "You feel so good." She groaned.

Paige plunged her tongue in and out of her, lapping and sucking at Emily's center, swirling a firm tongue around her clit, sucking her into her mouth.

Emily bucked against Paige's mouth as her orgasm built. She dug her nails into Paige's skin as Paige held her firmly, so she didn't lose contact. "Oh, God, Paige….I'm going to…" Emily moaned and panted, writhing against the wall as she came hard and long as Paige sucked at her, drawing out her climax with determination and skill.

"Stop." She breathed as Paige kept teasing her. "Oh, God, please stop…." Emily sagged against the wall and Paige pulled away, wrapping her arms around her waist to support her. "It's too hot…" Emily panted, her face flushed and eyes bright as she stumbled out of the shower and leaned against the counter, gulping the marginally cooler air.

Paige peered out at her from the shower. "You going to make it?" She asked, laughter in her voice.

Emily eyed her, her breath slowly returning to normal. "You'll have to excuse me." She said "I need to um…" She swallowed heavily and grinned. "...I need to get some air…" She wrapped herself, hastily in a towel and threw open the bathroom door and staggered out on rubbery legs to the bedroom.

Paige laughed and reached for the shampoo and finished her shower, leisurely, giving Emily time to collect herself, a cocky grin plastered to her face. She loved making the woman squirm and Emily seemed particularly responsive to her. It was delicious and Paige didn't think she could ever get enough of her.

Emily was remarkable. How a woman of her strength and accomplishment was also able to be so trusting and vulnerable spoke volumes of the way she felt about Paige and the sentiment was not lost on her. Emily, for all her grit wore her heart on her sleeve and Paige wanted to take care with her.

Paige dried and slipped on her bathrobe. She locked up the apartment and turned out the lights. The bedroom light shone softly from beneath the door and she pushed the door open quietly.

Emily lay sprawled on her back, arms thrown carelessly out to her sides and the towel wrapped in a turban around her head. The sheet covered her to her chest but Paige could tell she was otherwise naked. She was also asleep.

Paige sighed and smiled. Patience indeed. She toweled off her own hair and combed it out before letting her robe fall to the floor. She slipped into the bed next to Emily, moving her arm gently out of the way and turned out the light.


	14. Chapter 14

Emily woke to a room bright with sunlight. She stretched languidly, marvelling in how refreshed and relaxed she felt. She rolled her head to look at the clock and gasped. It was nearly 10:30 in the morning.

The sheets next to her felt cool and long empty and she could hear music playing softly and smell bacon and coffee. She rose and spied a robe hanging on the bedroom door. She slipped into it before padding out into the kitchen to find Paige.

Paige was at the stove cooking, swaying slightly to a Pretenders song. She flipped a couple of pieces of bacon onto a paper towel, stirred scrambled eggs in a pan and dropped toast into the toaster.

"Good morning." Emily called softly.

Paige turned. "Sleeping beauty awakes." She smiled. "I was beginning to get worried."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Emily asked sheepishly.

Paige's eyes widened. "Oh, I tried, believe me." She grinned. "I have a thing for morning sex but you weren't having it. I stopped just short of violating you in your sleep."

Emily dropped into a chair at the table. "Oh, Paige, I'm sorry." She covered her eyes with a hand. "I'm so embarrassed. That happens to me sometimes."

"What does?" Paige cocked an eyebrow. "Slipping into a coma?"

"Just about." Emily huffed a laugh. "I don't know what it is, exactly or what triggers it. I can go for days, weeks even, on very little sleep and then, I don't know, at some point I get to my limit physically and emotionally and I just shut down." Emily sighed. "I guess with the move here, starting a new program, everything that's happened with Aria and Mike dying-"

"Me?" Paige asked, nervously.

"No, Paige, not you." Emily assured. "It wouldn't have even happened if I wasn't somewhere I felt safe." She laughed a little. "The first time it happened I was in med school and my apartment mate called an ambulance when she couldn't wake me. Imagine my horror when I woke up in the ED."

Paige smiled. "Well, I admit, I did check your pulse a couple of times."

"I am so sorry." Emily said again. "I didn't mean to...neglect you…"

Paige laughed. "I'll live."

"Well, I'll let you in on a secret." Emily began. "If it happens again, page me. Make sure it's somewhere I can hear it, though."

"Really?" Paige asked surprised. "That works?"

"Yup. It's like a shot of adrenaline to my heart." Emily laughed.

"Noted." She turned back to the stove. "Are you hungry?"

"Famished." Emily eyed her. "I thought you didn't cook."

Paige shrugged. "Breakfast only. It's easy." She plated up eggs, bacon and toast for each of them and poured orange juice and coffee.

Paige joined Emily at the table and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Emily studied Paige thoughtfully and was once again filled with such a sense of belonging it nearly overwhelmed her.

Paige caught her gaze, smiling questioningly. "What?"

"I can't believe anyone would ever let you go." Emily answered softly.

Paige felt her face flush at the compliment and the sincere emotion behind it. "You barely know me."

Emily held her gaze. "Maybe."

Paige got up to clear their plates, feeling exposed and unsettled. She didn't know what was happening between them but it both excited and terrified her. She wanted this to be for real but it was still so new and she felt the intensity was almost more than she could stand at times. "What's your plan for the weekend?"

"I'm not on shift so studying, I think." Emily sighed. "I really need to spend some quality time at home with the books and I'm sure you have things to do."

Paige nodded. She could think of nothing. "Sure." She smiled. "I'll run you home."

* * *

><p>Paige kept a blistering pace on the treadmill, stabbing at the control panel to increase the incline another two degrees, to try and clear her mind. She had already spent an hour on weights doing arms, shoulders and abs. She stared ahead, unseeing, focusing instead on her breathing and the euphoria of her extended run, the noise of the gym muted by her own music and heavy breathing.<p>

She was nearing six miles when a beefy figure loomed in front of her. He glared at her and waved a hand across his neck motioning her to stop. Paige slowed to a walk and jerked her earbuds out. "What?" She snapped at Jake, the gym manager.

"You know the rules, McCullers." Jake replied. "Half hour time limit." He nodded behind her indicating a group of impatient people waiting their turn.

Paige stopped the belt and turned, a woman scowled at her. "Sorry." She waved sheepishly and stepped off the machine.

Jake eyed her. "What's gotten into you today?" Paige had been a regular at the gym for years and they were friendly enough. "Haven't seen you work out this hard since what's her face kicked you to the curb?"

Paige grimaced and mopped her face with a towel. "Nice."

"Whatever, you know it's true." He grinned. "Go work it off on another machine." He wrinkled his nose. "Or better yet, take a shower. You stink."

Paige bent her head and sniffed, making a face. She was in complete agreement. "Yeah, I'm done here."

She headed to the locker room and paused as she pushed through the door staring at the same battered paper taped to the door warning clients to lock up their valuable lest they be stolen. She saw it every time but today it brought to mind the missing specimens. It had never happened before and, in her gut, she knew it wasn't coincidence.

She hit the shower, her mind working overtime, now, on the questions surrounding Mike Montgomery's death. She and Emily had done an excellent job distracting each other, so far, from thinking too much about it but she wondered, now, with Emily purged from her mind for a few minutes, if she shouldn't be more worried.

All of the questions, his odd trauma patterns, the missing specimens, the list of patients, in and of themselves may not amount to much but taken together Paige couldn't ignore the potential significance. She wanted more information and, as soon as she stopped by the morgue to arm herself, she knew where she was going to look for it.

* * *

><p>Emily pushed the book off her lap and onto the floor with a disgusted sigh. She had been reading the text for hours and couldn't recall a single piece of information. She turned her phone back on, she had thought silencing it would help keep her focused, and saw three texts. Her heart skipped a beat. They were all from Aria.<p>

Emily dropped her head in her hands with a groan. She had been avoiding Aria for days. She had nothing to tell her except more vague unanswered questions. Emily toyed with her phone for a moment trying to get a handle on the disappointment she was feeling that none of the messages were from Paige. Aria was who she should be focusing on right now. Maybe, when they could put the questions surrounding Mike's death to rest she and Paige would be able to examine what was going on between them. Because it definitely demanded more examination.

She pushed the thought from her mind and snatched up the list of patient names. She wanted to get back on a computer at the hospital and look into these cases more thoroughly.

* * *

><p>Paige jerked open the file cabinet and began thumbing through the files searching for Montgomery, wishing now she had turned on all the lights in the morgue. She squinted at the tags as she got to 'm'. Montgomery. Finally.<p>

She tossed it onto the counter and flipped through the photos looking for one of just his face. She studied it for a moment. His face was relatively undamaged save for some glass shards embedded in his skin. Easily recognizable to someone who knew him or, she hoped, someone who had seen him. She knew showing it around could get her into a lot of trouble if she got caught but she was willing to take the risk if it got her some answers.

Paige gathered up the file and jammed it back in the drawer. She heard a rustle of movement behind her and spun, her heart hammering in her chest, to see Garrett Reynolds standing a few feet away. "Holy shit!" She breathed. "Garrett, what are you doing here?"

His eyes flicked from her face to the photo in her hand. "Was thinking the same thing." He replied, his eyes narrowing.

Paige glanced at the photo in her hand before folding it and jamming it into her pocket. "I, um, left something here." She offered.

He nodded, his lip curling into the beginning of a smile or a sneer. "Sure." He continued to stare her down.

Paige shifted, uncomfortably, chewing on her lip as he eyed her. He was the janitor. She had no reason to be nervous and she felt the beginnings of anger at the thought he was trying to intimidate her. "Since you're here." She straightened and looked at him curiously. "Do you know anything about a set of specimens going out to the lab for tox screen on Monday that may have been removed from the drop box?"

His eyes widened and he took a step back, his turn to be uncomfortable. "You accusing me of something?"

Paige frowned at his reaction. "No." She studied him, still favoring his left leg slightly as he shifted his weight. "I thought maybe you might have seen if someone was down her that shouldn't be."

"I didn't." He ground out. "Did you tell the boss?"

"No." Paige shook her head. "I sent off another set yesterday when I found out. Should have the results this week"

His eyes flashed, darkly before he schooled his expression. He turned and limped back toward the double doors.

"Hey, Garrett." Paige called after him. "What happened to your leg?"

"Twisted my knee." He grumbled without turning around as he banged through the doors.

* * *

><p>Paige slid onto a bar stool at Tiny's Pool Hall and spun around to take in the room. It was large, filled with regulation sized tables as far as the eye could see. It was early in the evening but the place was busy and the air filled with the crack of balls careening across the felt. The bar was long and half full and booths lined one long wall extending all the way to the back of the building, serving girls moving around the room delivering drinks.<p>

"What can I get you?" The bartender slid a napkin in front of her and waited, eyebrows raised expectantly, for her answer.

"Uh." She scanned the taps. Bud, Bud Light and Coors. She didn't really want a drink but she didn't want to piss off the bartender either. Not if she wanted his help. "You got PBR?"

"Yup." He moved to a large upright cooler and returned with a can. He popped the top for her. Classy.

"Thanks." She sipped the beer and set a five dollar bill on the bar. She didn't know where to start. They made it look so easy on TV. She was, all of the sudden, glad she ordered the beer. She drank down half of it before sucking in a deep breath. "Hey, man." She called.

The bartender came back. "Another?"

"Um, no, thanks." She swallowed and plunged ahead. "Were you working last Saturday?"

"And every Saturday." He began wiping down the bar in front of her, glancing at her.

"There was a guy killed around closing. Drove into traffic from this lot." Paige watched him to gauge his reaction. "Did you know him?"

"You a cop?" The bartender stopped wiping and looked her over. "You don't look like a cop."

Paige laughed. "No, I'm not a cop." What was she? Sleeping with his sister's friend? "I'm a friend of the family and they're just trying to piece together his last few hours. You know, for closure."

"Okay.' He nodded but but looked at her skeptically. "But I have no idea who it was. Only what I read in the paper."

"You didn't see him?" Paige asked disappointedly. She thought she would get a little farther than this.

"Maybe, I don't know." He moved off to pour a beer for another customer. He returned a few moments later. "What did he look like?"

Paige sat up in her chair and dug the photo out of her pocket. She unfolded it and set it on the bar.

The man looked at it, his eyes widening. "Jesus Christ!" He blurted. "I thought you weren't a cop." He glared at her. The kind of look that says fuck you for making me look at a picture of a dead guy.

"I'm not." She held up her hand. "I'm sorry. I work at the hospital and I'm a friend of the family like I said."

He shook his head, still pissed. He didn't look at the photo again. "He was here. He sat at a booth in the back all night." The man nodded toward a dark haired girl waiting tables. "Go ask Jen. It was her section." He moved away and didn't come back.

Paige finished her beer and added a ten to the five on the bar in front of her before moving off to the far side of the room and sliding into a booth.

* * *

><p>Emily sat hunched in front of the computer in a terminal in the hospital library. It was virtually deserted at 7:00 Saturday night. Everyone was either working or enjoying not being at work. She had the place to herself.<p>

She was halfway through the list again. This time reading each charted entry carefully. Vital signs, urine output, IV change, wound care, meds for pain management and on and on. Still she found nothing unusual and nothing in common from one case to the next. She was beginning to think there was nothing to find.

Emily sat back and ran her hands through her hair, expelling a frustrated sigh. She would look again, this time drilling down through the system to get at more information. She began with the last case first.

* * *

><p>Paige waited for the woman to come over, her foot tapping nervously under the table as the young woman made her way over to Paige's table.<p>

"Hey, honey, what can I get you?" She smiled at Paige.

"Um, PBR, please." Paige said. She wouldn't drink this one.

"Back in a flash." She moved toward the bar.

She dropped the can on the table. "Anything else? Need to see a menu?"

Paige popped the top and changed her mind, taking a long pull on the beer. "Jen, right?" She asked.

The woman smiled, curiously. "Who wants to know?"

"The bartender said you may be able to help me with something." Paige looked hopefully at her. "Do you have a minute?"

The woman blew out a breath and glanced around at her tables. Everyone appeared topped off for the moment. "Sure, honey, why not." She sat across from Paige.

Paige took another long sip, gathering her courage. If she wasn't careful she was going to be needing a cab to get home. "Last Saturday night a friend of mine was in here. Late. I was hoping you might remember him?"

Jen laughed. "A lot of people are here late. Is there something I should remember him by?"

Paige started to reach for the photo and thought better of it. "He was young, early 20's, good looking, clean shaven with short dark hair. He was well built, worked out a lot and he was wearing a leather jacket. The bartender said he may have been sitting around here."

Her face brightened. "Sure, I remember him. I always remember the cute ones. He was real broody though. Like he had something heavy on his mind."

Paige nodded, excitement building. Now she was getting somewhere. "Was he here with anyone?"

Jen nodded. "Not a first but then a man and woman joined him. And before you ask yes, I remember. He was tall, a little older and really hot. All chiseled and serious looking." Her lips curled in distaste. "And she was blonde, beautiful and a colossal bitch. I'm talking, a mean girl to the bone with perfect hair and pouty lips. Totally toxic"

"Wow, okay." Paige stared at her in surprise. "Any idea what they were talking about?"

"Sorry, honey." Jen shook her head with a shrug. "I could hear some but I have no idea. I sounded like all medical jargony." She rose to leave. "I can tell you this though, they didn't order anything. Sat at a table for an hour and didn't order a damn thing then split out the back when I wasn't looking."

Paige took all this in but couldn't wrap her head around it. She finished her beer and headed out the back door to look around.

It was full dark now with cars coming in steadily. There were parking spots all along the side nearest the entrance and when those were full there was a large dirt lot in the back which Paige was now facing having come out the back door. It was poorly lit and surrounded by trees. A good place for something to have gone wrong for Mike Montgomery.

Paige walked around the side of the building back to her car and stared down the drive. A moderately steep hill leading straight out onto the road. She considered it all for another moment before heading to her car.

* * *

><p>Emily was long past out of patience. Her neck and shoulders ached from too long sitting at the computer. She had still found nothing. She was about to close out of the program when it occurred to her she could just ask one of the nurses who cared for the patients. Perhaps they would know something that wasn't in the chart.<p>

She brought up a patient at random and scrolled down to their discharge information. The discharge nurse might be the most likely to be familiar with the case. She clicked on the entry and sucked in a breath. "That can't be right." She muttered to herself. It must be a mistake.

She pulled up another patient and clicked on the discharge entry with the same result. She frowned and quickly brought up another and another. "What the hell?" She hissed, her heart pounding. "What is this?"

Every patient on the list had been discharged from different floors and different services by Alison DiLaurentis.

Emily shutdown the computer and grabbed up her bag and phone. A chime alerted her to a text. It was Paige.

**Are you home?**

**Heading there now. I need to see you.**

**On my way**

* * *

><p><strong>Happy Canadian Thanksgiving for those of you keeping track. Turkey with the fam later today.<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

Emily had barely dropped her bag inside the front door when she heard Paige's car screech to a stop in front of her house. She left the door open and waited for her.

Paige bounded up the front steps. "You're never going to believe the shit I found out today." She stopped in front of Emily, slipped a hand around her waist and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

Emily's eyes widened in surprise before closing to slits and wrapping her arms around Paige's neck. She tasted like beer but Emily could get use to being greeted this way.

Paige broke off the kiss and moved past Emily into her apartment. She opened the fridge and helped herself to a beer from the other night, popping the top and drinking down half in one go.

Emily frowned at her. "Are you alright?"

Paige wiped beer off her chin with the back of her hand. "Yeah, why?"

"Have you been drinking?" Emily asked concerned.

"A little." She said sheepishly. "Sorry, did you want one?" She grabbed another beer and opened it, handing it to Emily.

"Thanks." Emily eyed her. "What's going on?"

"We should sit." Paige grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her into the living room. She dropped onto the sofa and waited for Emily to join her. "I went down to the pool hall to ask around about Mike Montgomery." She blurted and washed down her statement with the rest of her beer.

"What?" Emily stared at her. "Alone?"

"Well, yeah." Paige frowned. "You were busy and I just got to thinking about all this shit that's happened and now I think Aria has been right all along."

Emily had been thinking the same thing but she wanted to hear first what Paige had found out. "And?" Emily prodded.

"He wasn't alone." Paige began. "He met with a man and a woman. She described the man as older and hot and from what the waitress told me…" Paige grimaced, unsure of herself now. "...the way she described the woman as, and I quote, a totally toxic colossal bitch...this is going to sound crazy but I think it might have been-"

"Alison DiLaurentis." Emily finished.

Paige's eyes bugged out. "How do you know that?"

Emily blew out a breath and took a sip of her own beer. " I couldn't stop thinking about everything all day. I've spent most of day on the computer in the library at the hospital looking up those patients again. I didn't find anything at first and then I thought maybe I'd just go speak with one of the nurses on the floor. That's when I discovered Alison discharged every one of those patients."

Paige stared at her, letting it sink in. "How is that possible? Weren't they admitted?"

"It's not." Emily agreed. "And yes, to all different services. Ortho, surgery, cardiac care and some others. Her name shouldn't be on those charts at all except for when they came through the ED."

Paige got up and moved to the kitchen, getting them both another beer. She really didn't need one but she couldn't think what else to do. "I don't understand?" She admitted when she sat back down.

Emily stared off at nothing. "Who was the man?" She already had an idea but she wanted to hear Paige say it first.

Paige hid behind her beer. "I don't know." She knew. If the woman was Alison the man was Dr. Darren Wilden. As much of an ass as she thought he was she couldn't believe her boss was involved in this. Whatever this was.

Emily looked at her surprised. "They were together the other day, arguing in the parking lot. It has to be-"

Paige shook her head sharply. "I don't know." She snapped.

Emily looked at her but Paige couldn't meet her eyes. She understood Paige wasn't ready to admit her boss's likely involvement. "Okay."

Paige looked at her finally. "What the fuck is going on, Emily?"

Emily shook her head. "I don't know but I think we need some help. I think we need to call the police."

Paige sat back against the sofa and sipped her beer as she mulled this over. "I know someone who might be able to help. He's with the RPD and we've worked together a few times on some cases, accidents, suicides and such. He's a good guy."

"Call him." Emily encouraged.

Paige dug out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She had his number because they had talked about getting together for a drink though it had never happened. She got his voicemail. "Hey, it's Paige McCullers. I have a...problem I'm hoping I can run by you as soon as possible. Can we meet?" She ended the call and looked at Emily with a shrug. "Now what?"

Emily looked at Paige hard. Her eyes were bright with adrenaline and alcohol. It was nearly 9:00 and there was nothing more they could do tonight and, in truth, she had spent so much time on this today she was ready for a distraction. She pulled the beer from Paige's hand. "Now, I feed you." She said with a smile.

Paige grinned lopsidedly. "That sounds great." She admitted before collapsing back against the arm of the sofa with a sigh, feeling the effects of the beer.

Paige must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew Emily was setting a steaming bowl of spaghetti and meat sauce, garlic bread and large glass of water on the coffee table in front of her. "Jesus, did I fall asleep?" She sat up guiltily.

"For a bit." Emily sat down with her own bowl and curled her legs under her. "Eat."

Paige didn't have to be told twice and shoved an enormous bite into her mouth. "God, I could get used to this." She mumbled.

Emily smiled. "Which part?"

Paige looked at her. You. All of you. Every day for the rest of my life. Your mind. Your body. Your smile. Your laugh. The way you make me feel. The way you make me want. "Having someone to cook for me." She said at last.

Emily laughed. Paige's eyes gave away what she was really thinking but she would play along. "Oh yeah? I thought that's what your mother was for?"

Paige choked a laugh. "Touche."

Emily watched Paige eat for a few minutes. She had grown quiet and looked a million miles away. "Paige, what is it?" She asked softly.

Paige glanced at her and quickly looked away, her heart hammering in her chest with all the things she wanted to say. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not sure where to start, not sure if she should. "I'm a little scared." She whispered at last.

"Scared of what?" Emily knew they weren't talking about Mike Montgomery anymore.

Paige set her bowl on the table and turned to her. "Of the way I feel when when I'm with you." She searched Emily's eyes. Maybe it was the alcohol or the tension of the day or the nearly unbearable emotion when they were together and when they were apart but Paige couldn't rein in her tongue. "Of this crushing tightness in my chest that makes it hard to breathe when you're near me. I've never felt anything like it and I know I must sound like a fucking lunatic and I know we just met but I…" She trailed off panicking, the breath sucked from her lungs as she looked away.

Emily set her bowl on the table and moved closer to her, gripping Paige's trembling hands in her own. "Paige, look at me." Emily smiled gently in understanding and waited for Paige to meet her eyes. " You don't have to say anything else."

"I need you to know-" Paige insisted.

"I already know." Emily grinned and reached to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Paige's ear. "You're not alone." She leaned forward and brushed her lips across Paige's mouth.

Paige sighed, letting her eyes slide closed at the feel of Emily's lips on hers, soft and teasing. Paige slid her hand behind Emily's neck, tangling her fingers in her hair, pulling her closer, deepening their kiss.

Emily pulled away only far enough to speak. "Can I take you to bed?" She breathed.

Paige smiled and pulled her mouth to her again. "You can take me right here." She murmured.

Emily laughed softly and pushed against Paige's shoulders, pressing her down against the sofa and moving with her, never breaking their kiss. Her blood heated as she slipped her hands beneath Paige's shirt, smoothing across her abdomen and up her chest, cupping her breasts through her bra.

Paige groaned into Emily's mouth, their tongues tangling, as Emily reached behind her and unsnapped her bra, her hands slipping under the fabric and kneading her now bare breasts. Paige gasped as Emily circled her thumbs slowly around her nipples bringing them to hard points. She had never been as sensitive with anyone before now.

Her clothes felt too tight and a wave of wetness soaked her as Emily kissed along her neck, lifting her shirt and trailing her lips and tongue down Paige's chest, across her breasts, licking and sucking at the soft skin of her sides. "Oh, fuck." Paige breathed as Emily worked her way down her body.

Emily smiled into Paige's skin and nipped at her with her teeth, causing Paige to jerk and gasp. She slid her hands down and popped the buttons on her jeans slowly, one at a time. She slipped her hands down Paige's pants and cupped her, feeling her arousal against her palm making her own heart race and inflaming her desire.

Emily gripped Paige's jeans and panties and slid them over her hips in one smooth motion and Paige kicked them off onto the floor leaving her exposed under Emily's hungry gaze. "I want you naked." Emily growled and pulled at Paige's shirt, jerking it off over her head and slipping her bra over her arms, flinging to away.

Paige tugged at Emily's clothes. "What about you?"

Emily pried Paige's hands loose from her. "You can use your imagination." She descended on Paige's mouth again, diving into her with her tongue, swallowing her moans and raking her nails up and down her sides.

Paige was fast losing control as she clawed at Emily's back, desperate for any skin she could find. Emily slid away from her moving down her body, trailing kisses and nips, circling her navel with her tongue and pinching and twisting her nipples to make Paige cry out.

"Shit, Emily…" Paige gasped.

Emily laughed, Paige's torment only driving her on. She slid a hand down between Paige's legs and parted her, fingertips trailing through her wetness as she teased around her opening. She felt Paige tense in anticipation as she wiggled her fingers just inside her.

"Oh, God not again…" Paige groaned as Emily played with her sensitive skin. Her clit throbbed with need and her muscles contracted as she jerked her hips against Emily's hand, searching for her.

"Oh, yes, again." Emily purred and slid three fingers into her, achingly slowly. "And again…" She pulled out all the way to the tips. "And again…" She slid into her again, slower even.

Paige arched and gripped the arm of the sofa over her head for leverage, her hips thrusting into the air, desperately, trying to increase the pace and pressure. "Please, Emily.." Paige's breath hitched. "Mercy…"

Emily maintained her slow, tantalizing pace, pushing into her deeply and holding her there, feeling her muscles tremble and spasm around her hand. "You want me to stop?" She laughed.

"I want... you to... finish." Paige begged on a ragged breath,

Emily moved again, sliding in and out of her faster now. She circled Paige's clit with her thumb and pressed down in a rhythm matching her strokes. Paige's eyes closed to slits as her hips rocked against Emily's hand. It didn't take long.

Paige hissed a breath, reaching for Emily as she came hard, her body lifting off the sofa with a cry of pleasure. "Oh, fuck, Emily!" She screamed before collapsing back against the sofa, chest heaving.

Emily eased out of her, running her lands in long strokes over Paige's body as she shuddered with the last of the aftershocks. "You are amazing." She breathed and bent to kiss her across the top of her breasts

"Me?" Paige breathed a laugh. "You did all the work."

"Mmmm." Emily hummed and kissed each nipple in turn. "Do you want to go to bed now?"

"I don't think I can walk." Paige smiled and stretched languidly, bringing her arms across Emily's back. "For the love of all that is good and holy, woman, would you take off your clothes now?"

Emily laughed and pulled away from her long enough to strip out of her clothes. She stretched out across Paige, settling on her and pulled a throw blanket from the back of the sofa to cover them. "How's that?" She tucked her head into Paige's neck and licked her sweaty skin.

"Perfect." Paige sighed and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight.

"We're going to be sorry if we sleep here all night." Emily murmured into her hair as she breathed her in.

"I'll risk it." Paige whispered half on her way to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

"Oh, fuck, my back." Paige groaned as Emily shifted off of her in the morning. They were both sticky with sweat from sleeping on top of each other, arms and legs tangled.

"I warned you." Emily smiled sympathetically and helped Paige sit up, wrapping the blanket around her to cover her and grabbing another for herself. "Next time we relocate."

Paige grinned. "What makes you think they'll be a next time?"

Emily barked a laugh and grabbed Paige's face, descending on her mouth with a bruising kiss before pulling away and flashing open her blanket giving Paige an eyeful of her naked body in daylight

"Oh, yeah…" Paige's eyes widened and sparkled with desire. "...that's why."

"That's right." Emily said with a laugh as she moved to the kitchen to make coffee. "Don't forget what side your bread is buttered on."

Paige laughed. "What time is it?" Before Emily could answer her phone rang. She snatched it up from the coffee table. It was 7:30. "Hello?"

Emily made coffee with half an ear to Paige's side of the conversation. It sounded like the police officer she called last night returning her call.

"No, I'll find it." Paige said. "See you in an hour."

Emily returned and set a mug in front of Paige, sitting on the edge of the chair across from her, sipping her own. "So?"

"He's going to meet us in an hour somewhere called the Rear Window Brew." Paige shrugged. "I don't know it but I can look-"

Emily shook her head with a smile. "I know it. I worked there in high school. I hung out there all the time with my friends."

"Well, alright then." Paige said and stood with a grimace as she stretched out her back. "Shit." She breathed. "I need a hot shower."

"Oh?" Emily said, eyes raised over the rim of her mug.

Paige grinned. "We only have an hour." She headed for the bathroom.

Emily shrugged. "I can be quick."

* * *

><p>"This is cute." Paige said as she joined Emily at a table in the coffee shop two coffees and a plate of muffins in front of her.<p>

"Yeah." Emily agreed. "We had fun here."

Paige heard the bells over the door ring and looked up. "There he is." She stood as a tall good looking man approached their table.

He stopped, his mouth dropping open. "Emily?" He blurted. "Emily Fields?"

Emily jumped up. "Toby Cavanaugh!" She moved around the table and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped her up tight and lifted her off her feet in a monster hug.

When he set her down she pulled away and beamed at him. "I didn't know you were back in Rosewood."

He returned her smile. "Yeah, for a couple of years. I did two tours then got out and went to the police academy."

"I can't believe it." Emily looked him over. "You look great. I knew you were out of the army and I meant to get in touch but…" She shrugged guiltily. "...you know med school then residency."

"It's okay, really." Toby said sincerely. "It takes two to lose touch. What are you doing here?"

"I just moved back a month ago." Emily explained. "I switched into emergency medicine and I'm at RMH now."

Paige watched their reunion with a bemused expression. "I take it you two know each other?"

Emily turned to Paige. "Toby and I went to high school together." She explained. "We haven't seen each other for years."

"Too long." Toby admitted. He checked his watch. "I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of time. I'm on shift in an hour so you better tell me what this is about."

Emily's face turned serious as she sat down and Paige and Toby joined her. "You must have heard about Mike Montgomery?"

"Yes." Toby winced. "I know. I wasn't on that night but I heard it over the scanner." He frowned. "And Aria called me the other day. She was…." He shook his head. "She wasn't doing well and she was going on about Mike maybe being in trouble or maybe it wasn't an accident. To be honest she wasn't making much sense. Ezra was there and got her off the phone. I was going to swing by her place to check on her but I've been working doubles."

Paige and Emily shared a glance. Toby's peripheral involvement would make this easier. They hoped.

He caught their look. "Is that what this is about." He eyed Paige. "Dare I ask how you are involved, Paige?"

Paige took a breath. "I did Mike Montgomery's autopsy and...well...it's a little bit of a long story but Emily introduced me to Aria and she told us the same thing. She didn't think it was an accident. She asked me to look at his case again."

"And?" Toby encouraged.

"We found some odd trauma patterns on his legs that would suggest an unnatural position if he had actually been driving the car when it was hit. We had it confirmed by a Dr. Spencer Hastings at Hollis. She's a forensic-"

Toby's face brightened. "I know who she is. I went to a seminar she was giving on knife and bullet wounds on bone."

"Then we talked to this woman, Mona, a friend of mine, actually, who Mike was dating. She gave us this paper Mike had left in her apartment. It had a list of patient names and medical record numbers. We think he may have discovered something through his work as an insurance auditor."

Emily pulled out a page from her purse and handed it to Toby. "We made you a copy."

Toby glanced at it but looked skeptical. "Go on."

Paige took a breath. "The specimens I sent out or, tried to send out for him on Monday went missing. The lab never received them, the courier never picked them up. I think someone may have taken them out of the drop box."

Toby frowned. "Why would someone do that?"

"We think to cover up the fact that he wasn't drunk or maybe there was something else in his system." Emily added.

Toby sat back in his chair. "What are you saying? You think Mike was murdered?" He asked incredulously.

"I know it sounds crazy but something is definitely going on." Emily insisted.

"Last night I went to the bar where the accident happened and talked to the waitress who saw him." Paige added. "He didn't order a drink. Aria and Mona both said he didn't drink." Paige was getting excited now. "And he was with two people a man and a woman-"

"And we think we know who they are." Emily chimed in.

"Alright, slow down." Toby held up his hand. He jumped up and went to the counter coming back with a pen. He flipped the paper over. "Who do you think he was with?"

"Alison DiLaurentis and…" Emily's gaze flicked to Paige. Her mouth was pressed together in a tight line but she nodded for Emily to go on. "...and Dr. Darren Wilden. They both work at RMH."

Toby wrote this down. "How do you think all this is related?" He eyed them both.

"Well." Emily admitted. "We don't know yet." She tapped the paper Toby was writing on. "But when I looked up all the patients Alison DiLaurentis is listed as the discharge nurse for all of them."

"So?" Toby frowned.

"So, Alison is the head nurse in the ED. She shouldn't be anywhere near these patients after they've been admitted." Emily explained.

Toby looked at her considering. "Soooo…" He looked down at the paper and the notes he'd taken. "You think Mike Montgomery discovered something he shouldn't have and this Alison whoever and the doctor killed him and covered it up by making it look like a drunk driving accident?"

Emily and Paige stared at each other. "Jesus, when you say it like that even I don't believe it." Paige sighed.

"Yes." Emily said with conviction, not willing to second guess herself now. "That's what we think."

Paige smiled at her, proud Emily had the confidence to say it. "I agree." Paige nodded.

Toby shrugged. "Why? How?" He looked down again. "I mean, there's not much I can do with this." He looked at Paige. "You did the post, Paige. Is there anything else? Without the tox results there's no way-"

"I sent more off." Paige blurted. "I always keep an extra set of samples in case something goes wrong. They might even be in by tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay." Toby nodded, his lips pressed together grimly. "Well, when they come back we'll have more information. But I have to tell you even if there's no alcohol that doesn't mean murder. Unless there's something else to suggest he was under the influence or drugged or injured in some way this could just as easily be considered a suicide. We've seen it before. People deliberately crashing their cars. It's not uncommon."

Emily sighed. She hadn't even considered that. "Can you just look into Alison and Wilden?" She asked hopefully. "I mean maybe there's something there."

Toby sighed. "If it was anyone else asking I'd laugh." He admitted. "I'll see what I can do. Give me your phone, Em."

Emily handed him her cell and he put in his number. "Paige, you have my number. If you don't hear from me give me a call later today I'll let you know if I found anything."

"Thank you, Toby." Emily smiled. "And it's really great to see you."

Toby reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "You, too. Please, give Aria my love when you see her. Do you know when the funeral is going to be?" He asked. "I'd like to be there."

Emily frowned. "I don't, actually. Aria's really been struggling and I don't think she's been able to make plans. I'm going to call her today so, I'll let you know."

"Thanks." Toby rose to leave. "I'll be in touch." He looked at them both again, an eyebrow raised. "You two look good together, by the way." He left with a quick wave.

Emily smiled and watched him go, warmed at seeing him again and that he could tell she and Paige were together. She was about to say had much but when she looked at Paige her face was dark and her gaze far away. "What's wrong?"

Paige's eyes remained unfocused as she worked through whatever she was thinking about. "I missed something." She murmurred. "He wasn't a small guy. He was fit, strong. If he was beaten or if there had been trauma to the head I Would have seen it. I mean there wasn't even any accident trauma to his head except from some broken glass. There were no bruises. Nothing to indicate he had been in a struggle of any kind. How would they have done it?" She mused.

"Drugs." Emily stated. "That's why they don't want the tox getting discovered."

Paige nodded. "How did they get it in him? He didn't drink anything."

"Injection?" Emily offered.

Paige's head snapped up, her eyes bright. "Call Aria. I need to know what funeral home he's at."

* * *

><p>Paige and Emily waited in the foyer of the Kahn's Funeral Home. Paige's anxiety and excitement making her whole body vibrate with tension, her leg bouncing up and down rapidly.<p>

Emily was handling the wait far better and placed her hand on Paige's knee to still her.

"Sorry." Paige mumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew she was right about this. She just had to prove it now. Thankfully, Aria's distress and insistence that there was more to Mike's death had prevented her from moving forward with his burial.

He was embalmed and dressed but still in storage in the funeral home. Paige knew all the funeral homes in the area and they probably would have let them in without a call from Aria but, upon hearing they were still pursuing the case and that Toby Cavanaugh was on her side, Aria was eager to help and had called ahead.

There was a visitation going on this morning and Paige and Emily were forced to wait. It was driving Paige mad.

Emily was getting tense just being near her. She slipped an arm around Paige and leaned her head on Paige's shoulder. "Please, try to relax." She said softly.

"I can't." Paige replied. "We're so close. I can feel it."

Emily smiled at her determination to see this through. "Toby will help."

Paige just nodded, her leg bouncing again. Emily sighed and held her tighter.

It was some time before they saw the mourners file out somberly. Paige spied Noel Kahn and rose but couldn't approach as there were still a few stragglers shaking his hand and thanking him for his work.

Paige gritted her teeth and bounced up and down on her toes, impatiently. Emily remained sitting and focused on her breathing. Paige was strung tight enough for the both of them.

"Paige." Noel Kahn greeted her after he had ushered out the last of the mourners. "What can I do for you?"

"Did Aria Montgomery call you about her brother Mike?" Paige asked.

"She did." He nodded. "But, to be honest, I'm a little confused. You want to see the body again?"

Paige nodded sharply. "I just need to check something."

"He's been embalmed and he's dressed." Noel frowned. "You're not going to need to-"

"I shouldn't need take off his clothes or anything." Paige assured him.

"Okay." Noel said. "Come with me."

He slid Mike Montgomery's body out on the storage tray. He was clothed in a navy suit, tie carefully knotted, hair and makeup done, ready for viewing when Aria was ready.

Paige circled the body. She'd had plenty of time to think about this. Mike was fully clothed when he came in with the thick leather jacket on. There's no way a needle was getting though that. It could have gone through his pants but she didn't think so. I guy his size would have had to be taken by surprise. Probably from behind and somewhere quiet. The parking lot otherwise people in the bar would have noticed if he needed help leaving the bar because he couldn't stand.

"Can you pull his collar down a little." Paige didn't want to mess up Noel's hard work. She had a great deal of respect for the work of the funeral homes. She cut them up and theses folks put them back together so well she couldn't even tell he had been autopsied.

Noel loosened his tie and pulled the shirt away from his neck. Paige moved closer and tilted his head to the side, peering hard and this skin on the back of his neck and shoulder. She frowned, tilting his head the other way to look at the other side. "There." She breathed. She couldn't believe it herself.

At the base of his neck on the right, in the skin over his trapezius muscle was a small circular bruise. "Holy fuck, I was right."

Emily and Noel both looked over her shoulder at the tiny puncture site. Emily sucked in a breath and Noel frowned. "What the hell is this?" He demanded.

"Noel, do you have a camera?" Paige asked excitedly.

"What's going on, Paige?" He insisted.

"I can't explain right now but there will be an investigation, I'm sure of it." She bounced on her toes. "Please, do you have a camera? Can you get a picture of this?"

Noel sighed. "Yes." He pulled a small camera from a drawer and snapped some photos of the site. "Okay?" He showed them to Paige.

"Thank you." Paige said. "We have to go. Don't let anything happen to this body."

"Like what?" Noel gaped at her.

"I don't know, just...I don't know." Paige grabbed Emily by the hand. "We have to go. The police will be in touch."

* * *

><p><strong>Uh oh! Things are really heating up now. In the home stretch folks so, thanks for sticking with this new story. As ever, your reviews and messages make me very happy.<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

Paige sat in the car, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as she continued to work through the implications of what they had discovered as they sat in the funeral home parking lot.

"We should call Toby." Emily said as she studied Paige from the passenger seat. She looked manic. "Let him handle this."

"Not yet." Paige shook her head. "We know how they did it. Now we need to know why. What was going on? What did Mike discover that got him killed?"

"No." Emily placed a hand on Paige's arm. "We need to let the police handle it."

Paige ignored her. "Let me see the list of names."

"Paige-"

"Please, Emily, I need to do something." Paige held out her hand and waved it impatiently.

Emily sighed and dug in her purse for the original copy, unfolding it and handing it to Paige.

Paige didn't know what she expected to see but she had never really looked at the names figuring them to be meaningless to her. She frowned, cocking her head as she looked hard at one of the names, willing it to give her an answer.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Corey Curtis." Paige said. "I recognize that name."

"You know him?" Emily asked, surprised.

Paige tilted her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. "Her, I think." She replied. " I think I did a post on someone with that name last year."

Emily took the paper back and looked at the name and the notes she had written. "She was in for a colectomy for ulcerative colitis."

Paige nodded, eyes still closed. "That's right, I remember. She was really young, our age. She died two days after she was discharged. She went septic following the surgery. There was going to be a malpractice suit. It was a real mess."

"Okay." Emily agreed. "So what?"

Paige opened her eyes. "So, I don't know. I want to look at the case." She started the car and headed to the hospital.

* * *

><p>"Here it is." Paige dropped the file on the counter in the morgue, finding it much faster this time having turned on the lights. "I autopsied Corey Curtis about this time last year. July 14th."<p>

Emily looked confused. "That's not right." She shook her head.

"Yeah, it' right here." Paige pointed to her file. "She was discharged the 12th, went home and died two days later. Sepsis. Massive organ failure."

Emily frowned and pulled the paper with her notes out again. "I have her discharged on the the 15th." She looked at Paige.

Paige frowned. "We can check her chart in medical records."

Emily looked at her watch. "It's almost 4:00 on Sunday. Is anyone even going to be there?"

Paige grinned. "I know a guy."

"Paige!" Lucas looked up from his computer. "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you had another Sunday case? I didn't see anything." He started flipping through stacks of files on his desk thinking he'd missed something."

"No, nothing like that." Paige assured him.

"Oh, okay." He relaxed. "Good." He eyed Emily. 'Who's your friend?"

"Lucas Gottesman, Emily Fields." Paige introduced them. "Emily is a second year resident in the ED."

Lucas stood and extended his hand. "Good to meet you. What can I do for you?"

"We seem to have come across a discrepancy in a patient record we're hoping we can clear up if we can see the chart." Paige explained vaguely.

Luca snorted. "That doesn't surprise me at all. This turnover to electronic medical records while still completing paper charts is a fucking nightmare." He glanced to Emily. "Sorry."

She smiled. "Please, I hang out with Paige."

Paige grinned.

"Of course." Lucas laughed. "So, what's the name and MR number? I'll pull it for you."

Emily showed him the paper and he jotted down the information. "I'll be right back." He disappeared into the file room.

He was back a few minutes later with a thick chart, plunking it down on the desk. "Can't let you take it out of here." He said apologetically.

"That's okay." Emily smiled as she flipped open the chart and thumbed through to the back. She ran her finger down the last page of entries. "You're right." She said. "Discharged on July 12th."

"Who was the discharge nurse?" Paige asked.

Emily looked at her. "Nicole Weaver."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Lucas." Emily offered him a dazzling smile. "I know you're probably anxious to get out of here and get home but we could really use some help with something."

Lucas smiled back looking eager. "Sure."

Emily handed him the paper. "Can you pull all of these charts?" She looked hopeful. "We would really appreciate it."

Lucas' smile faltered and his eyes flicked to the clock. "No problem." He tried to sound enthusiastic.

"Thanks, man." Paige added. "I owe you one."

"Give me a few minutes." Lucas took the paper, turned and grabbed a cart, pushing it through the door into the file room.

It was closer to twenty minutes before he returned, the cart laden with charts.

"Thank you, Lucas." Emily said genuinely.

Lucas frowned. "Are you going to go through these all right now?"

"You don't have to stay." Paige said. "I'll lock up."

Lucas looked uncertain for a moment but his desire to get home won out. "Don't try and put them back. You'll never figure out the system. Just leave them on the cart and I'll take care of them when I'm in again."

"Sure." Paige agreed anxious for him to leave so they could get started.

"Hit the lights and lock the door." Lucas instructed as he turned off his computer and grabbed his keys.

"Will do." Paige called and picked up the first chart. Emily grabbed one as well and turned right to the back.

They went through all twelve charts comparing the written discharge information with what Emily had looked up in the computer. In every case the actual discharge date was three days prior to what had been entered electronically. And, as they expected, Alison's name didn't appear anywhere in the written record.

Paige snapped the last chart closed. "What the fuck?" She breathed.

Emily sat back and rubbed her eyes. "Why is Alison changing the discharge date to indicate the patients were here three days longer than they actually were?"

"We need to know what was entered for their care for those days." Paige said. "Let's go back to the morgue. We can get on the system there."

Paige frowned when they came back in through the double doors. The lights were off. She didn't remember turning the lights off and paused at the switch as she flicked them all back on. Emily didn't seem to notice and went right to the computer, perching on the chair and bringing up the program.

She logged on and brought up the first case, scrolling to the actual date of discharge and scanning the entries for the following three days. Vitals at appropriate times and the rest were almost all pain assessments and pain meds administered. Not that unusual considering what the patient was in for. Except the patient was no longer in the hospital.

She searched the next name on the list with the same result. Vitals, which were obviously fabricated and pain meds. They next was the same and the next.

Paige stood behind her biting her nails. "So, why would she order all these meds for someone who wasn't here?"

Emily dropped her head into her hands and massaged her temples for a moment as she considered the implications of this. "To take the quantities out of inventory." She said at last and spun around to face Paige. "If the meds are ordered they will expect them to be gone. You can't just steal a vial of, I don't know, morphine because all those narcotics are so carefully controlled."

Paige's mouth dropped open. "But if she orders it for someone. A patient who doesn't exist then she can just help herself to them and no one will be the wiser? The drugs are no longer expected to be there." Paige ran her hands through her hair. "Jesus fucking Christ." She breathed. "She's a fucking drug dealer?"

Emily turned back to the computer. "I'm going to pull up the rest." She started typing away furiously. "Then we're calling Toby."

"Okay." Paige agreed and paced back and forth across the morgue. Alison was altering the records to order meds for legitimate patients who were no longer at the hospital and pocketing the drugs and Mike Montgomery must have discovered the discrepancies in the billing or a patient actually looked closely at the bill and called him alerting him to a problem. These were the names he had discovered so far but here were probably others.

Paige couldn't believe it. And where did Wilden fit into all this. She was broken out of her whirlwind thoughts when she thought the heard the metal click of a locker door closing softly. She cocked her head and listened. She heard footsteps in the locker room. "Hello?" She called and moved toward the door. "Hanna?"

Paige reached for the door handle just as there was a loud bang from the other side and the door flew open hard, the metal handle cracking into Paige's outstretched hand.

A sharp stabbing pain jolted up her arm as the metal connected with the knuckles of her right hand. "What the fuck!" Paige cried, clutching her hand to her chest and jumping back a step.

"Paige?" Emily turned in time to see her jump back. "What-"

Paige barely registered the flash of movement as Garrett Reynolds charged out of the locker room and hit her like a linebacker, shoulder down and ramming into her chest.

Paige was knocked off her feet, the air forced from her lungs as she flew backward, landing on her back, her head cracking against the hard floor. Her mouth opened soundlessly and her vision went black, pain exploding behind her eyes.

"Paige!" Emily screamed. It all happened so fast Emily was barely out of the chair by the time the man straightened and snarled at her. He looked like he was going to make a move on her but charged out the doors to the loading dock instead.

Emily's heart hammered in her chest as she watched the door bang shut behind him. She gave a shake of her head to focus. "Paige!" She ran to her and dropped to her knees next to her.

Paige was gasping for air and blinking dazedly, her legs and arms moving erratically. "Don't move. Jesus, don't move." Emily commanded and placed her hands on Paige's shoulders to still her.

Her eyes were unfocused and rolling wildly. She had hit her head hard and Emily was worried about a concussion or worse. "Relax, Paige." She soothed. "Let me look at you."

Paige's breathing was coming easier and she calmed slightly at the sound of Emily's voice, blinking slowly and trying to focus on her. "Can you hear me?" Emily asked.

Paige swallowed. "Yeah."

Emily held up her three fingers in front of her face. "How many fingers?"

Paige blinked and winced. "Three." She breathed.

"Good." Emily said. She moved her hands around the back of Paige's neck and palpated her cervical vertebrae checking for fractures. "Any pain?"

Paige shook her head, then groaned as pain lanced through her head and her stomach twisted.

"Nausea?" Emily asked as she walked her fingers up the back of Paige's head. There was was some swelling.

"It's not bad." Paige winced and swallowed heavily. "I'm okay."

Emily shook her head. "You may have a concussion. You need a CT scan." She looked down at Paige's hand, held tightly to her chest, and gently pulled it away from her causing Paige to hiss in a breath. "Sorry. And your hand is definitely broken."

"Help me up." Paige rolled onto her side and shifted to sit against the cabinets. Garrett had knocked her clear across the room.

Emily steadied her, watching her with concern as Paige breathed deeply through the pain and dizziness. "How do you feel?"

Paige exhaled slowly. Her head throbbed and her hand was searing. "I'll be okay." She nodded.

"We need to get up to the ED and get you checked-"

"No." Paige breathed. "I don't want to go there. I'm alright." She pleaded. "I just need to get home."

Emily studied her. Her eyes were focused but tight with pain. She didn't think there was a serious head injury but she wanted to be certain. "It will be okay." She soothed. "I want to look at you and you need to see ortho to set your hand." She glanced up. Her phone was on the counter and she rose to get it. "I'm going to call Toby and tell him everything."

Paige nodded and let her eyes close, cradling her hand against her middle. "Garrett Reynolds." She breathed. "He's works for environmental services. He cleans up down here."

Emily dialed Toby. "Why would he hurt you?"

"I don't know." Paige frowned.

"Toby, it's Emily." She kept her eyes on Paige. "I'm going to put on speaker phone. Paige is here but she's been attacked in the morgue." She thumbed on speaker.

"_What?_" Toby exclaimed. "_What happened?"_

"A man named Garrett Reynolds. He works here and he just assaulted her. She's got a broken hand and possible concussion." Emily explained.

There was a long pause on the other end. "_Did you just say Garrett Reynolds?"_

"Yes." Emily looked at Paige. "Do you know him?"

"_I got to thinking about what you told me."_ Toby began. "_And I thought sending someone out into oncoming traffic in the middle of the night was a shitty way to try and kill someone. What if there were no cars or he wasn't killed? It didn't seem very smart. But an ambulance speeding to a scene would almost certainly do it but what are the chances you'd get th_at?"

Emily frowned. "What are you saying?"

"_You'd have to know the ambulance was coming."_ He said excitedly. "_And you would know that if you arranged the accident it was going to."_

"Garrett had a limp all week." Paige said. "He twisted his knee. A car accident?"

Emily frowned still not following.

"_It was."_ Toby agreed. "_A car accident the night Mike Montgomery died. He was the scene the ambulance was heading to."_

"They set it all up." Emily breathed.

"_I think so_." Toby said.

"We went back to look at the body." Paige said. "We found a puncture site on the back of his neck. I never saw it…" Paige trailed off weakly.

"You didn't know, Paige." Emily reassured her. "You would have never known to look." Emily turned to the phone. "We know what she was doing, Toby. She altered the records of all those patients, and probably more, to make it seem they were here longer than they were. She was ordering meds for them and stealing them, we think. Maybe to sell, I don't know but we can prove it all. We've seen the records."

"_Alright, I've heard enough_." Toby said. "_I'm taking this to my Captain and then I'm coming, with back up."_

"I need to get Paige to the ED and get treated." Emily said. "We'll be there."

"_Is Alison there?"_ Toby asked.

Emily pursed her lips and eyed Paige. She could take her somewhere else but they were already here and she didn't want to move her around too much. "I don't know. She didn't mention anything to me about working this weekend but she wouldn't necessarily. She shouldn't know we're onto her, right?"

"Unless that fucker Garrett Reynolds just told her." Paige grumbled as she staggered to her feet and leaned against the counter, breathing hard.

Toby sighed. "_I'm getting off the phone. Try and keep a low profile. Keep your phone close and if you see her don't let on you know anything. I'll be there as soon as I can."_

Emily slipped her phone in her pocket. "Come on." She moved to Paige and got an arm around her waist. "There's a store room right off the elevator. It's got a bed in it and we use it for overflow when we're packed. We'll be out of sight in there."

Paige nodded, feeling too weak and shaky to protest further as Emily helped her to the elevator.


	18. Chapter 18

Emily adjusted the pillow behind Paige's head. "Is that okay?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." She was actually glad to be lying down. The pounding in her skull was crippling and her hand throbbed. She could feel her fingers swelling.

They had made it up without incident. The ED was steady but not jam packed and, so far, there was no sign of Alison. Emily settled Paige into the small room, The walls were lined with shelves stocked with supplies and, as promised, there was a stretcher along the back wall.

"I'm going to step out for a few minutes." Emily said. "I need to find someone in radiology and see if they can sneak you in. I'll call an ortho resident, too, and get them to come down to set and cast your hand."

"Okay." Paige agreed.

Emily frowned at how pale she looked. She knew she was hurting. "I can't give you much for pain." She said apologetically. "Not until we rule out a concussion. I'll get a vicodin for you. You can have half now and the other half in a couple hours if you're doing okay."

"Yeah." Paige said tiredly. "I'm okay."

Emily smiled and smoothed a hand across her brow. "I'll be gone a for a bit. No one should bother you in here." Emily reached beneath Paige and dug her phone out of her back pocket and placed it into her left hand. She bent and kissed her softly. "Close your eyes and rest. Call or text me if you need anything."

Paige was all too happy to do so, the bright lights making her head throb. She rolled onto her side and threw her left arm across her eyes to block out the light as soon as Emily left and in seconds felt herself starting to drift off. She knew her rest would be short lived as Emily wouldn't let her sleep for long with a head injury.

Her eyes cracked open and she blinked at the wall when she heard the door open and click shut again behind her. She didn't think she had been asleep for long. "That was fast." She mumbled but didn't turn around. Moving made her head spin. She heard the quiet swish of movement, the soft tearing of paper. "Did you talk to radiology?"

Paige frowned when Emily still didn't answer she turned her head just as the felt deliberate hands at her arm lifting her sleeve and a cold swipe of alcohol on her skin. "What-" She began and jerked at the unmistakable stick of a needle in her upper arm.

Paige rolled onto her back and made to sit up. "What the fuck!" She snarled as Alison loomed over her, a half smile playing at her lips, her eyes glittering with malice.

Paige tried to push herself up but her head swam with dizziness and her arms felt unbelievably heavy. She dropped back down against the bed, her eyes rolling in panic at Alison. "What did you...do…" She breathed, her eyes threatening to close as every breath was a tremendous effort. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest.

"Shhhhh." Alison soothed. "Don't fight it and you'll feel better soon."

"You fucking….crazy...bitch…" Paige rasped as she struggled to stay conscious. "I know...what...you…did.." She breathed heavily, unable to form words as the room faded out.

* * *

><p>It was surprisingly easy to move around the department when she was dressed casually in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. The staff recognized her and nodded politely, letting her go on her way undisturbed as she, obviously, wasn't on duty and the patients didn't bother her as she didn't look important enough.<p>

Emily hurried back from radiology. They could take Paige now. She slipped back into the store room and froze. "Alison." She breathed as she saw the woman capping a syringe and dropping it into a sharps container. "What are doing here?" She tried to play it cool.

Alison smiled though it didn't reach her eyes. "I heard Paige came in and I wanted to check on her." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Emily's gaze moved to Paige. She lay unmoving, eyes closed. "What did you do?" Emily snapped and crossed the room to her. "Paige?" She shook Paige's shoulder. "Paige, wake up." She pried her lids open, her eyes were rolled in her head.

Emily turned and glared at Alison. "What did you do?" She asked again, panic rising. She looked back at Paige and saw a small bead of blood on her upper arm. "Oh, my God, what did you give her?" Emily shook Paige again. "Paige, honey, can you hear me?" She made a fist and rubbed it hard over Paige's sternum.

Paige groaned and her eyes rolled open at the painful stimulus. Emily knew she was heavily drugged. "Alison!" She snapped. "What did you give her?"

"Morphine." Alison replied sweetly. "20 milligrams."

Emily's mouth dropped open. "Are you out of your mind?" She reached for Paige's left wrist and took her pulse. It was slow but steady and her breathing was shallow. "She could be concussed."

Emily glared at Alison who stood with her arms crossed, her mouth in a satisfied smirk. "But you knew that already didn't you?" Emily said, her heart hammering with fear.

Alison shrugged. "I need your cooperation, Emily." She said coolly. "And this will ensure it." She reached behind her and pulled a small handgun from the waist at her back.

Emily sucked in a breath, raising her hands slowly in front of her. "What are you doing?" She asked, shakily.

"Give me your phone." Alison demanded, calmly.

Emily reached for her phone and handed it to her. Alison jammed it in her pocket. "And hers." She motioned with the gun to Paige.

Emily reached across Paige and retrieved her phone. Alison wedged it in with Emily's.

"Now listen to me very carefully, Emily." Alison said staring hard at her. "There's a wheelchair right outside the door. Get it."

Emily tensed and looked to the door.

"Slowly." Alison said. "Don't do anything stupid."

Emily moved from Paige and opened the door. Staff moved up and down the hallway. She could hear laughter from the nurses station and the hum of conversation from the patients in the waiting room. No one had a clue there was danger.

The wheelchair was right where Alison said it would be and Emily grabbed it and pulled it into the room.

"Good girl." Alison purred. "Get her in it."

Emily moved next to Paige. She was out again. "She's unconscious."

"Figure it out!" Alison snapped, losing her patience.

Emily rubbed hard at Paige's sternum again to rouse her and Paige opened glassy eyes to Emily, her mouth opening but unable to speak. "It's okay." Emily whispered. "I'm going to help you sit up." Emily got an arm around Paige's shoulders and pulled her upright with effort.

Paige groaned at the movement and her head lolled weakly against Emily's shoulder. "I've got you." Emily soothed. She kicked the chair closer to the bed and swung Paige's legs over the side of the bed. With an arm around her waist she slid her off the bed and into the chair, nearly toppling them both over.

The motion roused Paige further from her stupor. "Em...ly…" She slurred. "What's….going...on?"

"We're in trouble, Paige." Emily whispered. She needed Paige's help to get out of this. "I need you to try and stay awake for me."

Paige's eyes rolled to Alison and the gun pointed at them. "Fucking...bitch.."

"Shut up!" Alison snapped. She pointed the gun at Emily. "Get her keys!"

Emily looked at Alison, wide eyed. "What do you think-"

"Do it! Now!" Alison hissed.

Emily reached in Paige's pocket and dug her car keys out, holding them out to Alison.

"No." She motioned to the door. "You have five minutes to get her car and bring it to the emergency entrance." She moved to stand next to Paige. "Paige will be staying with me. If you try anything. If you alert anybody I will put a bullet through her head."

"Alison, please." Emily pleaded. Where the hell was Toby. If she could stall her long enough the police could get here.

"Enough!" Alison barked. She reached down and gripped Paige's broken hand, squeezing it hard.

Paige jerked, her eyes opening wide with a cry of pain before she doubled over and vomited onto the floor at her feet.

"Don't!" Emily cried, tears springing to her eyes. "Please, don't do that!"

Alison released her hand and pulled Paige back into the chair, her hand gripping her shoulder to keep her upright. "I need you to understand your position, Emily. We don't have much time."

"Okay." Emily breathed, shakily. "Okay, please don't hurt her." She looked at Paige. She had paled dangerously and her breathing was labored, her eyes closed to slits and her hands hung limply in her lap.

"Five minutes." Alison said again and jammed the gun back in the waistband of her pants. "We'll be waiting out front."

Emily stabbed at the elevator button rapidly. When it didn't open immediately she banged through the fire door to the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time. She had to go back through the morgue. She pounded through the doors and eyed the phone. She didn't have Toby's number and he was probably already on his way here.

She checked her watch. She only had two minutes left. She didn't know what Alison was planning but she believed she would kill Paige. She believed Alison would kill them both. She needed more time for Toby to find them.

She threw herself behind the wheel of Paige's car and the engine roared to life. She whipped around the hospital to the emergency entrance as fast as she dared. It wasn't quite dark and there were many people coming and going out the entrance.

Alison stood on the curb, her hands on Paige's shoulders to keep her from slumping over in the chair. She did not look well and Emily was very worried. That much morphine could dangerously depress her respiratory system. Coupled with a possible head injury and it could prove fatal.

She pulled to a stop and stepped out of the car. She glanced across the parking lot searching for any sign of the police. Nothing yet.

"Get her in the backseat." Alison commanded and opened the back door against the curb.

Emily moved around and hoisted Paige again. She was nearly total dead weight. Alison had to help move her into the car. A few people stared at them, curiously but no one stopped or said a word.

Emily straightened as Alison slammed the door. Paige was slumped over in the backseat. "Now what?" She asked, sweat trickling down her back from tension and exertion.

"You're driving." Alison slid in the passenger seat and pulled the gun again, holding it in her lap.

Emily gritted her teeth and moved back behind the wheel. "Where?"

"Wait." Alison said and sat very still and quiet.

Emily adjusted the rear view mirror so she could keep an eye on Paige. She was motionless but Emily could see the slow rise and fall of her chest.

Emily looked out to the road again, her eyes brightening hopefully as she saw two cruisers turning onto the hospital grounds.

Alison saw them, too. "Don't get too excited. We're leaving."

Emily craned her neck as a car pulled up behind them, a black Lexus, and flashed its lights twice. Her throat tightened with fear. She knew who must be in it. "Wilden." She breathed.

"Very good." Alison praised and jammed the barrel of the gun in Emily's side. "Drive. Slowly."

Emily flinched and pulled out of the drive as the two patrol cars pulled in behind them. She watched in the side mirror as Toby and three other officers got out of the cars and headed inside. Her heart beat wildly at how close they were and she slowed further, willing Toby to look their way, to know what kind of car Paige drove, to know they were in trouble.

* * *

><p><strong>To Guest Reviewer 'P'...I'm not certain I'm going to do another story with these characters. It could be a one off. Even so, I'm not sure I understand your request. You want something like an episode of House or something?<strong>

**To the anonymous Guest Review who questioned my use of 'ED' vs. 'ER'...It's funny you mention that and I'm surprised you're the first one to mention it. I assure you it's deliberate and not an error on my part (gasp!). ER for Emergency room is more familiar to people but it is somewhat dated and not at all accurate. After all, it's not just a 'room' it's a department hence the movement toward ED which is what was used in the last hospital in the US I worked in. Just to make things more confusing...I now live and work in Canada and they just say "Emerg". I think that's just plain weird so I opted for ED. Hope that helps.**


	19. Chapter 19

They had been on the highway out of town for a half hour. It was full dark now and the Lexus stayed close behind them. Alison remained silent and Emily took the time to work through possible plans of escape.

The most obvious was crashing the car but Paige was not secure and she was already physically compromised. Emily wouldn't risk it. She prayed she'd have another chance. Toby knew by now that they weren't at the hospital. Both their phones had been ringing non stop until Alison had had enough and threw them out the window. Someone must have seen them leave. Toby must know or, at least suspect, something had happened to them.

"Exit here." Alison spoke for the first time and Emily jumped. She slowed and turned off the highway at a local conservation area. Hiking and biking trails around a small lake. The road grew dark as the streetlights fell away. The road narrowed and went from paved to gravel to dirt as they wound their way around the lake.

"Slow down." Alison directed.

Emily slowed to a crawl and peered through the windshield as they bumped along a dirt track, thick foliage on either side scraped against the car.

"Turn right down that path." Alison said.

Emily frowned. "What path?" She saw nothing but brush and trees to the right.

"Do it!" Alison snapped. "There's a break in the trees."

Emily turned and the car bounced in and out of a deep swale as it plowed through the brush, rocks scraping against the undercarriage and branches digging at the paint as they crept down the nonexistent path.

They didn't go far, maybe ten yards before the the trees thinned into a clearing and the headlights reflected out onto nothing as the ground fell away a few feet in front of them.

Alison laughed. "Guess I didn't need to tell you to stop." She waved the gun at Emily. "Get out."

Emily complied, hands shaking so badly she could barely open the door. She peered at Paige in the back seat. She was still breathing.

Emily stood and waited as Alison peered through the trees back the way they had come. They could hear footsteps crunching along their track.

Wilden appeared, brushing leaves and dirt off the sleeves off his designer shirt. He glared at Emily. "You better be right about this, Ali." He growled. "The goddamn cops were right on my ass."

"Of course, I'm right!" She shot back. "And I told you never to call me that."

"Whatever." He sneered. "This is her?" His eyes flicked to Emily and he openly appraised her. "What a shame."

Emily didn't have anything to lose anymore. If there was ever a doubt that Alison intended to kill them there wasn't any longer. "The cops know all about your scam." She said with more confidence than she felt. "They know you killed Mike Montgomery. We found the puncture wound."

"Without those tox results you can't prove anything." Wilden sneered.

"The results will be in this week." Emily said boldly. "Paige keeps an extra set of samples in case something goes wrong."

Wilden paled visibly and his mouth gaped. He looked to Alison. "Did you know about this?"

Alison shrugged. "It's circumstantial. There's nothing to tie us to him."

"There's the waitress at the pool hall who remembers you for being, I believe the words were a colossal bitch." Emily snarked.

Alison's eyes narrowed. "Darren, get the other one behind the wheel. This ends now. Whatever they have will be meaningless without their testimony."

Wilden moved to the car and jerked open the rear door. He easily dragged Paige out of the car and propped her up with one arm while he opened the driver's door and shoved her onto the seat.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emily breathed as she watched Wilden position Paige behind the wheel and buckled her seat belt, tightening and locking it so she remained upright except for her head which dropped to her chest. He lowered the window before he slammed the door.

"You two are going to meet with an unfortunate end." Alison said, expressionlessly. "Lover's quarrel, murder-suicide, accident under the influence. Call it whatever you want."

Emily's stared at her in disbelief. "How do you think you're going to get away with this?"

Alison laughed. "Who do you think is going to be doing the autopsies?"

"The police will be looking for you." Emily said, so shocked at their profound stupidity or carelessness or audacity she forgot to be afraid.

"Maybe." Alison admitted. "But you'll still be dead and we'll have excellent lawyers." She motioned to the passenger seat. "Get in."

Emily moved around the car, slowly. Her head snapped up as she heard the unmistakable sound of sirens far off.

Alison heard it, too, and her face twisted in rage, "Move!" She jerked Emily by the arm and slammed her against the car.

"They're coming for you, Ali." Emily mocked. She never saw the blow as Alison's arm shot out and struck her hard in the face with the flat of the gun.

Emily's head snapped back as she felt her skin open up over her eye and blood poured down her face. Her vision swam and she staggered against the car with cry, her hand going to her head to stem the bleeding.

"Get in the car." Alison ground out an jabbed Emily in the ribs with the gun.

Emily staggered but managed to pull herself into the seat. She reached across and pressed her fingers to Paige's neck. Her pulse was holding steady.

"Seat belt." Alison directed.

Emily pulled it across her chest and fastened it. She knew this area. The lake was deep but the ground was relatively level. If they sent the car into the water they still had a chance. With the police close they wouldn't be able to stick around and see the results of their handiwork. She just needed to get out and get Paige out. Emily could hear the sirens getting nearer and her heart surged with hope for them.

Alison slammed the door. "Go! Now!" She shouted at Wilden.

He leaned in through the driver's window and held the wheel as he pushed the car forward over the embankment.

Emily's heart was in her throat as she braced her hands on the dash as the car tipped over and gained speed as it plunged down a steep 10 foot bank and crashed into the lake.

Emily jerked in her seat, her head whipping forward with the impact. Her hands went to her seatbelt, immediately, and she pressed the release. It came unfastened easily and she breathed a sigh of relief but the car was filling with water fast and sinking. The rush of the water into the car was loud as it bubbled and swirled around her legs. Despite the summer heat the water was cold and helped to clear her foggy mind.

She crawled over the center console and reached for Paige's latch which as already under water. She pressed and nothing happened, the water disrupting the mechanism. "Oh, God, no." She breathed and tugged at the belt with everything she had, the water up to Paige's chest now as the car rocked and sank into the lake.

She crawled across Paige and climbed out her open window, reaching back in across Paige's body for better leverage. She braced herself, her feet against the car and pulled fiercely all the while depressing the release. "Oh, God, please!" She screamed, the water was up to her chin now and Paige's head was under already. It wouldn't let go and Paige was submerged.

Emily stopped pulling and took a breath. She tipped Paige's head back and breathed for her. "Please hold on." She begged trying to get Paige's face to stay out of the water. She couldn't work at the seat belt and keep Paige breathing at the same time. She took another breath for Paige and let her head drop.

She gripped the seat belt again. "Dear God, please help me." She prayed and pulled, desperately. She flew back from the car with a gasp into the water as the seat belt released. She pulled herself back to the window and got her arms under Paige's and pulled at her. She was almost totally submerged now and had been for 20-30 seconds as Emily's medical mind worked to keep track.

Paige floated up and out of the car easily and they both floated on the surface, away from the bubbling roiling water that was the last of Paige's sinking car. Emily wrapped an arm across Paige's chest and stroked the short distance to the bank. It was too steep and the water too deep to stand. She couldn't get out here.

She looked up, desperately, and could see the red and blue lights reflecting in the sky and heard car doors slamming. "Somebody help me!" She screamed.

She swam to the right, praying the bottom would level out as another minute ticked by and she didn't know if Paige was breathing. A few yards down as she scrabbled along the steep bank she felt the bottom of the lake, soft and thick with mud rise up to meet her feet.

She stood and slogged her way up a weedy beach, dragging Paige's limp body as she heard bodies crashing through the undergrowth to meet her. It was dark but she could see flashlights bobbing through the trees and hear Toby shouting for her. "Over here!" She yelled.

She dragged Paige out to firm ground, gasping with the effort, and laid her flat. She checked her pulse, weak but steady and, out of the water, she could hear her wet rasping breaths. She was breathing on her own but with effort. Emily rolled her onto her side in the recovery position and pounded on her back.

Paige coughed and retched up a small amount of water. "That's good, honey." She murmured as Toby crashed through the trees to them, two officers and two paramedics with a backboard on his heels.

Emily couldn't spare Toby a glance and looked pointedly at the medics. "Pulse is weak and respirations shallow." She snapped off. "She suffered a blow to the head over an hour ago and was given 20 mg of morphine." One of the medics eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak his shock but she plowed ahead. "Do you have an opioid antagonist?"

He stared at her, open mouthed. "Narcan?" She snapped. "Do you have it?"

He nodded dumbly.

"Start an IV and give it to her!" She ordered.

The paramedics snapped out of their daze and got to work. They rolled Paige onto the backboard, one of them getting a cervical collar on her while the other unwrapped the tubing and IV bag.

"Her left hand." Emily added. "Her right is broken."

The medic nodded but gave no other indication he heard her as he pierced the back of Paige's left hand and taped the IV port in place "Pushing Narcan." He announced as he plunged a needle into the port in the IV line while the other medic secured Paige to the board.

Emily sat back and released a slow breath, slicking her hair out of her face. There was nothing else she could do at the moment.

"Emily?" Toby spoke for the first time. "Are you alright?"

Emily looked up at him. She began to tremble with exhaustion and waning adrenaline. "What took you so long?" She asked with a wavering smile. She wanted to cry with relief and fear.

"Sorry." He smiled. "It took us a while to track the GPS in Wilden's car." He admitted. "Can you walk?" He reached down and helped her to her feet, frowning as he saw the gash above her eye bleeding freely down her face.

"Yeah." She stood shakily and swayed for a moment. "I need to go with Paige to the hospital."

Toby nodded. "I think that's a great idea." He slipped an arm around her waist and helped her back through the woods to the dirt track.

Emily blinked in the bright lights of the police cars, spotlights and red and blues. The medics loaded Paige into the back of the ambulance. Emily glanced at the cars and could clearly see Darren Wilden in one and Alison in the other. Alison sat, stone faced, staring straight ahead. Wilden looked like he was talking a million miles a minute and maybe crying as the officer in the cruiser nodded and took careful notes from the driver's seat.

"You got them." Emily mumbled. Her strength was fading fast as Toby sat her down at the back of the ambulance.

"Hold this." He instructed and pressed a gauze bandage to her head.

Emily winced and applied pressure to the wound.

"Yeah." Toby replied. "We got them. They hadn't gotten very far." He gave a short bark of laughter. "For criminal masterminds who managed to run a medical drug ring for three years without getting caught they didn't finish well."

"No kidding." Emily sighed.

"We're ready to go ma'am." One of the medics interrupted.

Emily nodded and let him help her into the ambulance and settle on the bench next to Paige.

"Nicely done, Fields." Toby offered her a warm smile. "I'll finish up here and see you at the hospital."

"See you." Emily smiled.

Toby shut the ambulance door and pounded on the back to let them know they were all set to go.


	20. Chapter 20

Emily watched intently as Paige's eyes fluttered as she started to come around. "That's it, honey." She encouraged.

Paige swallowed and her brows knit together as she struggled to open her eyes. Her body felt heavy and her tongue thick and too big for her mouth. She squinted and cracked her eyes in the dim light. "Hey." She croaked when she saw Emily.

"Hey yourself." Emily smiled and picked up her left hand being mindful of the IV. "How do you feel?"

Paige frowned. "Like dogshit."

"That's funny." Emily grinned. "That was my exact professional assessment of you."

Paige licked her lips. "Is there water?"

Emily retrieved the plastic cup and bendy straw from the table, holding for her to drink. "Not too much." She placed it back on the table after Paige had several sips.

Paige sighed and looked around the room and down at herself. Her right hand was splinted and heavily wrapped but other than that she appeared undamaged. She wiggled her toes and moved her legs. She flexed her left hand in Emily's grasp and was satisfied everything was working as it should.

"My head is fucking killing me." She admitted. "What happened? How long have I been here?" She frowned as she noticed the bandage over Emily's eye and surrounding swelling. "Are you alright? What the fuck happened?" She asked again.

"Let's take it slow." Emily smiled. "Yes, I'm alright." She touched the bandage at her head. "I needed a few stitches but I'll have a rakish eyebrow scar."

"Like Khal Drogo?" Paige asked.

"I thought you'd like that." Emily squeezed her hand gently. "We've been here for a few hours. It took some time to counteract the amount of morphine in your system and you'll be feeling the effects of that and the Narcan for a while. You're not not going to feel very well, I'm afraid."

"Morphine?" Paige frowned.

"How much do you remember?" Emily asked.

"Not much, apparently." Paige shifted in the bed. "How do you raise this thing up?"

Emily reached for the control and raised the head of the bed so Paige was closer to sitting. "Better?"

Paige nodded though the change in position turned her stomach. She swallowed heavily. "I think I'm going to puke." She managed and Emily got a plastic tub in front of her split second before she vomited the water she just drank.

"Sorry." Paige mumbled, embarrassed, as Emily offered her a cloth to wipe her mouth.

"Don't be." Emily shook her head. "You've been through a lot." Her eyes darkened and her smile faltered. "You nearly drowned."

Paige sighed and dropped her head back against the pillow feeling weak and sick. "Drowned in what?" She asked in disbelief.

"Knock knock." Toby pushed the door open. "Hey, McCullers, looking good." He mocked.

"Fuck you, Cavanaugh." Paige sighed.

"So the good news is Wilden can't roll over on Alison DiLaurentis fast enough. We don't even have enough memory to record all his shit. The dude won't shut up about the operation. We've got patient names and dates, records of all the stolen meds, sales, bank account numbers. He even threw her under the bus for Mike's murder. Said he was just the muscle." Toby sighed. "Unbelievable." Toby took a breath. "And in other news we picked up Garrett Reynolds at the bus station, seeing as how he cracked up his car on purpose in all of this. He doesn't appear to be involved in the drug ring and was conscripted to aid in Mike's murder. It's unclear if he knew what was happening when they paid him to crash his car. That will be his defense, at least."

"Jesus." Paige breathed. Her head was spinning with all this information and she still had no idea what had happened to her and how she landed in the hospital. 'What's the bad news?"

Toby smiled sadly. "Your car is unrecoverable."

"My what?" Paige jerked up in bed and her stomach roiled again, twisting. Emily got her the bucket but her stomach was empty and she dry heaved, painfully for a minute. Emily rubbed her back and glared at Toby.

"I'm so sorry." Toby said, sheepishly. "I thought she knew."

Emily shook her head and moved the bucket easing Paige back down onto the pillow. "She's only been conscious for twenty minutes."

"What happened to my car?" Paige asked weakly, her eyelids heavy.

Toby looked to Emily for direction. She simply shrugged. It was too late now. "It's at the bottom of the lake in the conservation area." He answered with a grimace.

Paige's eyes closed. "What the fuck happened?" She groaned again.

"My words exactly!" Hanna shrieked from the doorway. "Jesus Christ, Paige, you look like shit!" She exclaimed as she moved into the room. She eyed Emily. "You're doing, marginally better, I think." She gave Emily's shoulder a squeeze. "Officer Cavanaugh." She nodded to Toby on the way by.

"Miss Marin." He grinned at her. They always greeted each other like that.

Hanna stopped at the side of Paige's bed. "They said you almost drowned." Hanna said quietly, her smile and good humor faltering as she looked at Paige critically.

"That's what I heard, too." Paige replied managing a weak smile.

Hanna picked up her good hand and clutched it tightly for a moment, her eyes bright with emotion. "Don't ever fucking do that again, Paige." She whispered.

Paige smiled, genuinely. "I don't intend to."

Hanna gave a sharp nod and released her hand. "Let me guess." She turned back to the room. "You were rescued by a gorgeous lady doctor who revived you with slow motion mouth to mouth? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink."

"Revived who with what?" Nick McCullers boomed as he strode into the room, his wife hot on his heels.

"Oh, Paige." Her mother gushed and sat at the edge of the bed, petting Paige's face. "You're coming home with us when they let you out of here." She turned to Paige's father. "Nick go find out when she can come home." She snapped.

Paige looked desperately passed her mother and met Emily's eyes, pleading for help as her mother gushed and cooed at her.

Emily didn't need to be asked twice. Her head was starting to spin as well. "Okay, everyone." She stood and spoke in her best professional voice. "I'm sorry but visiting hours are over and Paige really needs to get some rest."

Paige's mother turned and looked curiously at Emily. "Are you my daughter's doctor?"

Hanna smothered a laugh and Toby jerked her out of the room. "We'll see you later, Paige." He called over his shoulder.

"Um…" What little color Paige had drained from her face as her mother turned to look at her.

"I'm a second year resident here." Emily said smoothly. "Paige can tell you the rest when she's feeling better."

Paige looked at her gratefully. "I'll call you tomorrow, Mom." Paige said and patted her mother's hand. "I'm alright, really." She added at her mother's worried expression.

Her father was looking between Emily and Paige. "Good for you, Paige." He blurted and helped his wife to her feet. "Let's let Paige be." He ushered his wife out the door.

Paige sighed deeply as Emily closed the door on the last of them. "Holy shit." She breathed. "Thank you for that."

Emily moved to sit next to her again. "My pleasure." She smiled. "So, things will be pretty tricky when you move back in with your parents." She winked.

Paige laughed. "Yeah, that's not happening."

Emily turned serious again. "Do you want to hear the rest?"

"Yes." Paige sighed. "But not right now." She reached for Emily's hand. "I'd rather hear about how you brought me back to life with mouth to mouth."

Emily smiled. "Fortunately, that wasn't necessary."

Paige's eyes brightened. "Oh. it's necessary now." She pulled Emily toward her.

Emily's heart skipped a beat as she caressed the side of Paige's face. "I was really scared." She whispered.

"I'm okay." Paige whispered back. "Thanks to you."

Emily closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to Paige's. "There's a lot I want to say." She added when she moved away.

Paige sighed. "There's time."

* * *

><p>Emily waited in Paige's room Monday morning for her to come back from ortho. She was getting her hand set and cast. X-rays showed pretty serious fractures in the second and third metacarpal and she was fortunate she wouldn't need surgery though she would be in a cast and out of work for eight weeks.<p>

Emily looked up and smiled as an orderly wheeled her back into her room. Paige grinned sloppily, her head wobbling on her shoulders and a hot pink cast from the tips of her fingers to her elbow.

Emily cocked an eyebrow at her. "Did you pick the color?"

"Isn't it sexy?" Paige laughed, goofily.

The orderly chuckled. "They gave her a shot of demerol." He explained and handed Emily a bottle. "These are for the next couple of days if she needs them."

"Ah, I see." Emily said and tucked the meds in her pocket.

"It really hurts a lot." She said though she didn't seem to be feeling any pain at the moment.

"Thank you." Emily said to the orderly. "I've got her." She helped Paige out of the wheelchair and guided her to the bed.

Paige flopped back onto the bed. "This is great." She said with a laugh and waved her cast around in front of her face.

"Note to self." Emily said. "You are extremely sensitive to pain meds." She patted a pile of clothes. "Hanna gave me the spare key to your apartment and I picked up some clothes for you."

"Because my keys are at the bottom of the fucking lake with my fucking car." Paige sang.

Emily fought a laugh. "Come on, I'll help you get changed. They're letting you out this morning."

"Awesome!" Paige jumped off the bed and attempted to untie the hospital gown with one hand.

"You're really cute when you're high." Emily laughed and pulled the ties at the back of the gown.

"You think so?" Paige waggled her eyebrows.

"Settle down, woman." Emily laughed.

Emily had just finished tying Paige's boots for her when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Paige yelled much too loudly.

An older distinguished looking man in a sharp business suit and power tie entered. He smiled. "Miss McCullers?" He asked tentatively.

"That's me." Paige crossed the room and extended her hot pink cast.

He eyed it and shook her fingertips gently. "Do you know who I am?" He asked.

"Yes, Sir, I do." Paige said triumphantly. "You're Carter Hackett, President and CEO of Rosewood Memorial Hospital." She looked at Emily and winked. "I read the hospital newsletter."

Emily straightened from the floor eyeing him curiously.

"You must be Dr. Fields." He extended his hand with a smile.

"Emily, please." She shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hackett."

"Call me Carter." He replied and looked between them. " I and this hospital owe you a great debt of thanks. This…" He shook his head unsure where to even begin. "...this business, this crime ring, in this hospital…" His face reddened in anger. "...I don't even have the words and it's going to be a nightmare making reparations to all the patients who were harmed and the community who have lost faith in our facility. Not to mention the press and lawyers and courts." He sighed. "But that's my problem."

Emily and Paige looked at each other, quizzically.

"Anyway." He straightened himself and schooled his expression. "I wanted to thank you personally for what you've done and to see that you're well taken care of for what you've both suffered." He turned to Paige. "Miss McCullers-"

"Paige." She blurted.

"Paige." He continued with a nod. "Your medical expenses will, of course, be covered by the hospital."

"I would expect nothing less, Sir." Paige beamed.

Emily covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. "I apologize on her behalf, Carter. She's just been to ortho to have her hand set and she'd not quite herself at the moment."

He smiled in understanding. "That's quite alright. It will probably make this all the more fun for me" He looked at Paige again. "Additionally, your school loans with the hospital have been forgiven. Beginning the next pay cycle you will receive your full salary. That is, unless, you're planning on leaving RMH and I truly hope you are not."

Paige's mouth gaped. her school loans forgiven. She couldn't imagine being out from under that debt. Her eyes flicked to Emily. "I have no plans to leave the area at this time."

"Good, good." Carter Hackett clapped his hands together. "We'll, obviously, be hiring a new pathologist and, in the mean time, our cases will be sent to other local hospitals. I understand you'll be out of work for a while." He gestured to her cast.

"Eight glorious weeks of short term disability." Paige beamed.

He nodded. "Paid in full." He added.

Paige and Emily stared at him.

"That goes for you, too, Emily." He turned to her. "I've spoken with the director of your residency program and, as of this morning you are on eight weeks paid leave."

Emily's mouth dropped open. "That's not necessary, Sir, I'm fine." She argued. "I'm happy to work."

He held up his hand. "This leave will, in no way, impact your standing in the program or your chances of becoming chief resident in a couple of years. You will move along with your class as scheduled."

Emily opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. "That's very generous of you." She managed finally.

"Lastly." Carter Hackett sighed. "As you can imagine I've been in meetings with the legal department and marketing teams and consultants and any number of people who have a comment about the future of the hospital after a scandal like this. Appropriate compensation must be provided to all injured parties." He eyed them to see if they were following him. They weren't. "Our financial department has, as of this morning, made a direct deposit into your accounts an amount that I hope you will find satisfactory. I realize you can't put a price on pain and suffering but we do what we can. You are, of course, able to retain legal counsel and we can discuss the matter further but I truly hope that won't be necessary." He looked at them expectantly.

Paige stared stupidly at him, her drug addled brain unable to comprehend what he was saying fully.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary." Emily interjected and gripped Paige's good hand to keep her from speaking at all.

"That said." Carter Hackett's expression turned serious. "All of this is not completely benevolent on our part. This…" He gestured widely. "...this is a fucking disaster for the hospital. Pardon my language."

Paige beamed at him.

"There is going to be a trial and press all over the place. I'm going to have spin doctors coming out my ears. There will be rumors and speculation and it will go on for quite some time and you two are going to be at the center of that." He looked between them. " I need this hospital and staff to get back to working order as soon as possible and I'm afraid that it will be difficult if you're here and, I don't mean to offend, a distraction. So, I encourage you…" He eyed them hard. "...I implore you to make yourselves scarce for a while. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Emily chewed her lip. "I believe so, Sir." She nodded.

"I don't." Paige admitted.

Emily squeezed her hand. "We'll talk about it later." She hissed.

Carter Hackett nodded. "I appreciate your understanding and if there's anything I can do for you please, don't hesitate to call my office." He sketched a wave and breezed out the door dodging around a nurse on her way in.

"Your discharge paperwork." She waved a sheet of papers in her hand.

"Sweet!" Paige exclaimed already seeming to have forgotten their encounter with Carter Hackett.

Emily sat on the bed and logged in to her online banking site while Paige wrestled with signing herself out with her left hand. "Holy shit.' She swore softly to herself when she saw the deposit. Enough to pay off her med school loans. She closed out and jammed her phone in her pocket, bursting to tell Paige but it could wait.

"So." Paige said as they stepped out into the sunlight of the late morning. "Where are we off to?"

"My place, I'd imagine." Emily said with a nod. "Since we don't have a car between us."

"Right." Paige agreed and reached for Emily's hand lacing their fingers together.

* * *

><p><strong>One more chapter to tie up a couple of loose ends then I'm sticking a fork in this one. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story. I shall consider my foray into contemporary AU fic a success. Hmmm...whatever shall I do next? <strong>


	21. Chapter 21

The next two days passed in a blur. Paige spent much of the time asleep on Emily's sofa, still recovering from the effects of the drugs and general physical abuse. Emily made sure she ate and showered appropriately and when she was interested and able they spent time talking about what happened.

Toby came over and filled them in on more details of the investigation. The state police were involved now and a state medical examiner was brought in to reexamine Mike Montgomery's body. Paige was pleased to know that, other than the puncture site which she didn't know to look for, they found no fault with her work.

The toxicology results came back and proved Mike had high levels of a fast acting sedative in his system. Wilden and Alison would be charged with his murder along with the attempted murder of Paige and Emily and a litany of theft, fraud and drug trafficking charges.

Emily invited Paige's parents over and Paige filled them in on as much as she thought they could handle without getting too upset. Paige's mother stocked the house with groceries and casseroles and was embarrassingly approving of their relationship. Emily laughed long into the night after they left.

Mike's body had been released for burial and on Wednesday evening Paige carved out a corner for herself in the mass of people at a party at Aria's apartment that spilled out into the hallway after the funeral.

She leaned against the wall and dug out a pill from her pocket, popping it into her mouth and chasing it with a bottle of water. The funeral service had been as she expected, so very sad at the senseless loss of such a young life in such a brutal way.

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, letting the many conversations drift around her. She had swiped a stir stick from the coffee bar and was using it to jam under her cast to itch her arm. She was not looking forward to eight weeks of this and she regretted the color as soon as she came down from the pain meds.

"Buy you a drink?"

Paige opened her eyes and straightened as Shana held a plastic tumbler of wine in each hand, extending one to her with a tentative smile.

"Oh." Paige eyes widened in surprise. "No, thank you."

"Sorry." Shana's smile faltered. "I shouldn't have bothered you." She turned to go.

"No. No." Paige corrected her. "It's not that. I just took a pain pill so I can't really drink."

"Oh, right." Shana tossed back one of the glasses and dropped the full one into the empty cup to free up a hand. "More for me then." She smiled. "That's a good color on you." She gestured to the cast and then squinted and leaned in closer to look at it. "Is that a penis?"

"Hanna signed it." Paige sighed. "I wasn't paying attention and I haven't had a chance to cover it up yet."

"Leave it." Shana laughed. "It's funny."

"Hilarious." Paige said dryly.

Shana eyed her. "So, are you doing okay?"

Paige took a breath. "Yeah, I guess. My hand aches like a son of a bitch but it's getting better and everything else has been pretty overwhelming but, yeah, we're doing okay."

"Good." Shana replied and seemed to struggle with what to say next. "I'm really glad you're okay, Paige." She offered hesitantly. "And I'm sorry...I'm sorry about everything."

Paige gave her a lopsided grin. "Thanks for saying that, Shana." She looked out across the room and saw Mona talking in a group of what looked like friends of Mike's, maybe from high school. "How's Mona holding up?"

Shana followed Paige's gaze. "It's been hard. I think she really hoped he was the one, you know? I think she's doing better now and I know the funeral helped her find some peace, especially after we found out what really happened to him."

"Yeah." Paige agreed. "Emily says Aria is going through much the same process. Hopefully, now she'll be able to start coming to terms with everything."

"You and Emily okay after everything?" Shana asked. "It's a hell of a way to get to know someone."

Paige couldn't help the goofy smile that broke over her face at the thought of Emily. She looked for her and was unsurprised to find her watching them from across the room, her eyes glittering with amusement and curiosity at whatever she imagined them talking about. Paige beamed at her and she returned her a dazzling smile. "Yeah." Paige said simply.

'I'm happy about that." Shana said sincerely. "She's a lucky woman."

Paige turned to her and cocked her head. "You think so?"

"I know so." Shana said with confidence. "Take care of yourself, Paige." She leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before she weaved her way across the room to join Mona.

Paige stared after her, dumbstruck, which is how Emily found her a moment later. "Care to share?" She asked and slipped her hand through Paige's arm.

Paige blew out a breath. "Uhh...not really sure." She cocked an eyebrow at Emily. "Maybe she finally realized what's she's been missing." She teased.

"Oh, really?" Emily narrowed her eyes, playfully. "Am I going to have to fight for you?"

Paige turned and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist. "You saved my life." She said softly. "I believe that means I'm yours to do with what you will."

Emily's mouth quirked. "Be careful what you wish for."

Paige disappeared back to her apartment the next day and Emily hadn't heard from her since Thursday morning. She wasn't worried, though and suspected, like her, Paige needed some time to herself to process everything and figure out what she was going to do next. She did miss her though as they hadn't spent a more than a day apart since they met which, was not even quite two weeks ago. Emily still couldn't wrap her head around that. It seemed, in many ways, they had lived a lifetime together already.

It was just as well Paige went to do her own thing as Emily had some business she needed to attend to and plans to make for her time off. She wanted to make sure her parents were going to be around and she could make a trip to see them in a few weeks and she wanted to pay off her debts with the money from the hospital.

Surprisingly, she hadn't missed work at all and, once the funeral was over and things began to settle down she found herself enjoying the free time. She was on the front porch with a glass of wine and a book enjoying the pleasant Friday evening when the roar of a car engine broke the still air.

Emily looked up to see a pristine white Dodge Charger rumble to a stop in front of her house. She gaped at it, snapping her book closed and setting her wine glass on the step before pushing herself to her feet.

Paige popped out of the car with an enormous grin and sweep of her arms. "Well?" She called. "What do you think?"

Emily laughed and shook her head. "I can't believe you bought the same car." She walked down to the curb and peered in through the tinted windows.

"Get in." Paige said excitedly.

Emily slid into the smooth leather seat and looked around the sleek interior. "Nice." She said and looked at Paige puzzled. "Why does your new car smell like Mexican food?"

"Yeah." Paige frowned. "I brought dinner." She popped the trunk and hopped out of the car. "I should get it out before I lose the new car smell."

Emily smiled to herself. She didn't know Paige was going to buy a car today but it would make their conversation later all the more fun. She had spent her alone time doing a little planning and had walked to the corner gas station to pick up a gift for Paige.

Emily got out of the car and grabbed the bag of food from Paige as she reached into the back seat to retrieve a six pack of Pacifico to go with dinner.

Emily eyed her. "You're not still taking the meds are you?"

"No, Doctor." Paige assured her. "I'm not, don't worry your pretty head."

Paige laid out the food. "I've got chips and fresh guacamole, chicken enchiladas, rice, beans and I think there might even be a salad in here somewhere if you're feeling the need to have something healthy."

Emily laughed. "Smells delicious." She gathered plates and utensils for them and opened a couple of beers.

Paige already had guacamole on her chin by the time she came back to the living room. Emily reached for her, wiping it off as she moved by her and making a show of licking her thumb clean. She laughed at the surprised expression on Paige's face, a different kind of hunger in her eyes.

Paige cleared her throat trying not to imagine Emily with her clothes off. "So, what have you been up to?" She crunched another chip.

Emily smiled but didn't look at her. She couldn't have planned this better if she had tried. "A lot actually. I paid my school loans."

Paige's eyes lit up. "That's great! That must feel so good."

Emily nodded and helped herself to an enchilada and salad. "It does. It really changes things for me being out from under that." She focused on her food for a few minutes. "I started looking around for a new apartment." She added finally.

"Really?" Paige looked around. Though it hadn't been long she really associated this quirky place with Emily. She wondered, curiously, how seeing her in her element, with her own things would change her impression of her. "Where are you going to go?"

Emily shrugged. "Don't know yet. I have time and I saw a couple places that looked interesting. I won't commit to anything until next month probably." She looked up from her plate to Paige. "Maybe you'd like to come look at some of them with me?"

"Sure." Paige grinned. "I'd love to."

"I've been thinking about a car, too." Emily said. "It will let me get farther away from the hospital." Emily segued. "How many miles does yours have?"

"Thirteen." Paige beamed.

"You going to do anything about that?" Emily asked. "Because I've been thinking about what Carter Hackett said at the hospital and I think it's time to get away."

"Where are you going?" Paige frowned. "To see your parents?"

"Yes." Emily said, fighting a smile. "Eventually." She reached under the coffee table and brought out a wrapped gift, floppy and flat. "I got this for you today."

Paige looked from the item to Emily with interest. "What is it?"

Emily smiled. "Open it and find out."

Paige set her plate down and picked up the package, bending it back and forth. "A book?"

Emily just shrugged and sipped her beer.

Paige tore at the wrap awkwardly with the fingertips of her cast hand. Pulling the paper away. "A road atlas?" She looked at Emily.

Emily smiled. "I couldn't help but notice that Comic-con is in a few weeks." She watched Paige's face change from confused to shocked. "And it seems we've found ourselves in the unusually fortunate position of having time and money."

"Are you serious?" Paige breathed. She could barely believe what she was hearing.

"If I recall the only other thing you're missing is the right person to go with you." Emily finished. "Any ideas?"

Paige could only stare at her. Her chest tightened with emotion and she had to look away. She stared at the atlas instead wondering what she had done to deserve a woman so generous and thoughtful.

Emily could see Paige was struggling. She didn't realize she would get so emotional. "I thought." Emily began softly. "After everything that happened, it might be appropriate to take advantage of this time to cross some things of your bucket list."

Paige swallowed heavily but didn't look up. "Yeah." She whispered.

Emily set her beer and plate on the table and slid over closer to Paige. "Look at me." She reached her hand to tilt Paige's head up, a finger under her chin and waited for Paige to meet her eyes. "If we've learned anything the last week and, really, considering what we both do for a living, we should already be acutely aware of this, is how precious life is." Her own throat tightened, her mouth suddenly going dry. "And it's foolish to wait to tell the people we care about how we feel because we're afraid or think it's too soon."

Paige's heart thudded in her chest and her breath quickened. "What are you saying?" She breathed.

Emily smiled softly. "You know what I'm saying." She closed the distance and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "But I'm going to say it anyway." She took a breath. "I'm in love with you, Paige McCullers. Passionately, deeply, foolishly in love with you and have been for what seems like a very long time but…" Emily laughed. "...really has only been a couple of weeks."

Paige swallowed visibly and felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest at Emily's words. "I wanted to say it first."

"You can have your turn later." Emily laughed, her eyes dancing. "So, what do you say? Do you want to drive across the country together?"

Paige lunged for her, wrapping her arms around her and crushing their lips together as Emily fell back against the sofa under her assault. "Yes!" Paige mumbled into Emily's mouth, refusing to break the kiss. "When do we leave?"

They talked through the evening as they ate, pouring over the map, plotting out possible routes and places they wanted to make sure to see and working their way through the beer.

Paige had never been so happy in her life. So completely satisfied and excited for the future. She snapped the atlas closed and leaned back against the sofa, the alcohol making her giddy and warm. She traced her fingertips across Emily's back as she still sat forward and Paige allowed her mind, now, to imagine Emily in all sorts of impure ways.

Emily turned to see the wanton look on her face. "I know what you're thinking." A smile playing at her lips.

"I doubt it." Paige murmurred. She was enjoying a particularly lascivious fantasy.

Emily stood and held out her hand. "Come with me. I have something else to show you."

Paige raised her eyebrows questioningly and let Emily pull her to her feet.

Emily lead her to the bedroom. Where normally her futon mattress would be the king waterbed had been pushed away from the wall and took up the center of the room. There were fresh sheets on it and candles flickered softly around the room.

"No way." Paige breathed and moved to the bed, touching it and making it ripple, the water burbling at the motion. "Holy shit!" She turned to Emily. "For real? Can we?"

Emily laughed at her childlike enthusiasm before she straightened her face and looked at Paige from beneath her lashes. " I thought we could address something else on your list. But only if you think you're up for it." She challenged. They hadn't been together since Paige had been released from the hospital.

Paige's mouth dropped open. "Up for it?" She grabbed Emily around the waist and threw them both onto the bed with a splash and violent rocking of the mattress. "I've got your _up for it_ right here." She pushed her left hand up Emily's shirt and under her bra squeezing her breast and causing her to gasp and squirm against the still rolling bed.

They both cracked up and rolled around the bed, rolling and sinking as the mattress waved around them. Paige stripped off her shirt and and unsnapped the button on her pants before dropping back onto Emily and attacking her smothering her with kisses and stroking over her body with her good hand.

Emily hummed with pleasure and merriment as he reached around Paige and helped her out of her bra before pulling off her own shirt and bra. Paige settled on top of her, the bare skin of their chests pressed together. She sighed at the silky, warm feel of Emily's body under her.

"Wait." Paige lifted herself off Emily and propped herself up on her arms. "What about your list?"

Emily's mouth twisted as she fought not to laugh and her eyes flashed with desire. She leaned past Paige and reached into the nightstand. "I'm so glad you asked that." She smiled, wickedly as she rolled back over, the dildo from Paige's room clutched in her hand.

Paige's mouth dropped open. "Dr. Fields!" She said aghast and laughed, her eyes darkening with arousal. "I'm scandalized."

Emily's mouth quirked. "I doubt it."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading. Let me hear you say 'yeah' if you want more Sirens.<strong>


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